Seduced by Evil
by sharra731
Summary: "Could you kill, Vergil?" The silence that followed felt as though it could suffocate. Those frosty blue eyes that I'd known since childhood, darkened with his thoughts. It was hard enough to decide on asking him. OC
1. Put Words to Actions

Vergil was irritated. The way he didn't bring his head up to look at the man and how he acknowledged him but at the same time ignored him, was definately his way of saying "leave me alone". Ha.

He had know idea it was so easy for me to read him. Then again, it wasn't so hard to notice his feelings right now. That cold, hard look in his eyes and aura of pure hatred was enough to send the message.

"People, inherently fear ... evil," the man sliced his fingers on Yamato, dragging his thumb farther down the blade as he stepped closer, "however, occasionally, a person may become seduced ...by evil," He stopped, letting the blood drip freely from his thumb. Vergil turned ever so cautiously to look at the man and with the same caution, sheathed Yamato.

"What are you getting at?" Vergil asked darkly.

"Share with me ... the story or Sparda." The man practically purred. Albeit in a dark, creepy sort of way. Vergil however turned to walk away, leaving the suspicious figure staring after. He got to me and stopped.

"What are you going to do?" I asked.

"He seems to know something,"

"I don't trust him. Are you sure you want to use him?" I tried to make him reconsider. Though he hadn't said he'd agree to him, I knew it was what he was thinking.

"What makes you think I'm going to?" He smirked.

"I've been around you long enough to know that you're at least considering it. You have that look on your face," I smirked back.

"A look?"

"The look that shows that you're in deep thought. I know you are interested," I said tartly.

"Perhaps,"

"Fine," I sighed, "you're going to make me ask him aren't you?" I growled low in my throat, "You," I called to the man. He lifted his head slowly to look at me. I didn't like those eyes. One was red, the other blue, and they were very suspicious. He was shady.

"You will tell us what you know," Looking to Vergil at my side who faced his back to the man.

"As you wish," He said a little too delighted for my tastes. Though one would say it was "creepy" the way he said it. He carried the red book in his hand almost lovingly. Like an adored pet.

"He's a bit ... strange," I lowered my voice, never taking my eyes from the man stalking towards us.

"Agreed," Vergil replied curtly, "but I get the feeling he has some ... valued information.

"What is your name?" Vergil demanded but never turned to look at him. No doubt that didn't matter. Vergil didn't need to see in order to kill.

The man stopped at least a good swordlength away; probably trying to distance himself from Yamato this time.

"Arkham," Whenever he spoke he added more time to his words. Letting it roll off the tongue longer. More dramatic if you asked me. Looking at him, he reminded me of a snake. He didn't even hide his treachery beneath the surface. Either way, I didn't like him. I didn't like that Vergil was associating with him either, and possibly considering him into the plan. Of gaining some form of help from him. I didn't like it, but whatever Vergil did, I couldn't help but follow, whether I agreed or not. Sometimes I felt completely pathetic the way I still followed, but staying with him gave me the answers I needed. I had grown immensely stronger since I'd begun to follow him a year ago. In such a short time he'd made me at least triple what I had been to begin with.

"Arkham, where shall we discuss this?"

"I know a place," I saw those contrasting eyes glow with greed.

Chapter

"The activation method is as I described before," I listened from the shadows, "it should be a simple matter for you," Arkham turned to leave, "I will go to his place," He paused a few moments "I believe I know where the item we seek, is located,"The sound of his shoes hitting the stone was enough to irritate me, "You should dispose of any obstacles quickly!" He called after.

I was surprised Vergil hadn't noticed me, or else he had and decided to ignore it. He'd made it clear that he didn't want me to tag along, but I couldn't help it. I was curious about these seals too. I wanted to see them for myself.

After Arkham vanished as craftly as he always did, the fire demons morphed. Enough to surround Vergil, but he made no inclination. He reacted as if nothing were there. Of course, he had to be a show off, whether somebody was there to watch or not. However it was as if time had slowed down when they attacked. I know it was all at normal speed, but to my eyes I could decipher their movements and slow it down. He had taught me that as well.

_"Why can't I go?"_ I had complained.

_"You'll only get in the way,"_ Though he had appeared cold and distant, I had been able to detect protective instinct he'd tried to hide.

_"I'll have you know I am not the same helpless girl that you saved. I've gotten stronger, not that you would have noticed," _I'd retorted and he had "hmph"ed in a more laughing way in return.

_"Regardless, I need you to stay here,"_ He had ended it there.

Now, watching him slice these lessar demons to bits was all the more proof that I was definately not needed.

Amidst the blood, his hair fell from its slicked back style into those snow white tendrils that I had always wanted to run my fingers through. When I thought about it though, you could say I already had. He and Dante were twins, and I had been ... intimate with Dante. Vergil was a whole different story though.

Perhaps it was the challenge of getting near to him. Close to him. Maybe that was what drove me to him.

He disbanded the last remaining horde quickly and I was amazed by the speed and accuracy at which he executed his swings and maneuvers. He was truly what I wanted to be. Sure, he and Dante were both skilled, but where swordsmanship was involved, Vergil was unstoppable.

And as much as I didn't want to admit in the moment- especially while watching him sheathe Yamato behind his back - he was sexy.

He slicked back his hair again and made his way to the great gold door that would lead to the next obstacle no doubt. That was when I moved through the shadows again.

"It begins," He muttered.

"So it does," I materialized beside him, leaning against the door. He reacted differently than I had expected. He actually was surprised. Had I managed to surprise him?

"I told you to wait back at the mansion," He collected himself quickly. If anyone else had seen him, they wouldn't have known whether he had been surprised or not. Only I could remotely read him. And I was damn proud of that. If I had remained in the mundane world I'd always lived by, being in interrogation would have been my field I think.

"I was bored," I stated matter of factly, "besides, I enjoy watching you fight," I smiled.

"I wouldn't even consider that a fight," He scoffed at nonexistant pile of bodies that had dissapeared.

"You're right, you were pretty slow," I said with sincerity, "I bet if I had been you're opponent you would have lost," I "tsk"ed.

"Would you like to put your words to actions?" He challenged.

"You'll need your strength if you're going to do this "mission" of yours. You won't be able to do much when you've been beaten up," I teased.

"Go back to the mansion and when I return we'll test those words of yours," He smirked. He always smirked.

He was so damn cocky.

"So that was you're hidden motive, huh? You just want me to go back," I laughed outright and it caught him offguard, "Fine, but you'll miss me," I dissapeared back into the shadows. When he'd realized I had the ability to dissapear into shadows and materialize anywhere the shadows were, he'd been impressed. Even when there weren't any shadows I could materialize in some way or another. I had to thank my mother for my power over the elements. Her priestess powers had been intensified by the demon half of me. Where I possessed them, the demon within twisted them and warped them into different uses.

"For some reason, I don't believe you've left just yet," He said, a smile in his voice.

I couldn't help but laugh and then dissapeared for real.


	2. Taking Advantage

I had taken advantage of the vacant Mansion to make my way to the pool in the basement. It was most interesting how this place had so many rooms and that the pool was literally underground. Seeing as how when I had decided to follow Vergil, I hadn't though about buying a swimsuit, I had to swim naked. This was definately the reason why I was grateful everyone was gone. The brat, Alice, that Arkham had introduced to us, was most irritating. All she did was look for approval or praise from Vergil. It almost made me sick. Her and Dante's first encounter had left her a little different than she already had been.

Dante...

I wondered what he was up. He had to be all sorts of angry right now. Vergil had said they had crossed paths but Dante hadn't noticed. In order to watch out for Vergil, I had to abandon Dante.

"Oh Eva, what have I gotten myself into?" I sighed.

"Talking to yourself?"

"VERGIL!" I was about two decibals away from a scream. . GOD! I was NAKED!

"It's your own fault for swimming naked," He said.

"The least you can do is turn around," I scolded.

"If you were looking at me, you know that I am,"

"Did you see anything?" I hid my entire body beneath the surface and cast the room into shadows.

"I saw what I saw, does it really matter," He scoffed. I could hear that arrogance in his voice.

"You pervert," I illuminated two of the old torches that weren't used that hung on both sides of the room. I could now see him clearly. In the dark I could see anyway, but with the little light, I could see even better.

"Lovely," He replied sardonically, "I see you've really learned to get a grip on those powers of yours,"

"Blowing all the lights out was an accident. I panicked," I admitted.

"If it makes you feel better, I didn't see anything ... "

"You saw it all," I snipped.

He huffed in defeat.

"Whatever, it's not like I haven't seen you naked," I swam over to his side of the pool. He'd frozen stiff at my words.

"I don't recall," He said, curiosity burning.

"Oops, I probably should have said I've seen Dante naked, but if I've seen him naked, then I've seen you. You guys are identical twins. You got what the other has, physically speaking," I smiled and looked at the back of his coat. He was so tall. I was tall, 5'11 to be exact. I felt like I was normal heigth next to him. However, at the given moment I was in the water and having to look up at him.

"Real nice," He said.

"Maybe I'm wrong," I smiled when he turned his head ever so slightly backwards toward me and saw that I was watching before turning forward again, "but you know what you're problem is?" I dissapeared.

"What?"

"You don't have any fun!" I let my arm reach out from my shadow and push him full strength into the pool behind him. I fully materialized where he had been standing, keeping the shadows as my cloak around my body. He came to the surface with an incredulous look on his face. Like someone had just managed to slap him. He peered up at me, a gaping fool.

"What the hell was that for?" He was angry. How I loved it when he was angry. He was so much more fun when he was angry.

"I'm just an annoying acquaintance," I dove in and came up for air in front of him. He stared back at me with unimpressed eyes then sweeped what could be seen of my body- just my head to right above my breasts which weren't far enough underwater so basically they were visible too- and rested his gaze on my chest where the locket rested.

"I don't understand why she gave it to you," He sounded confused, as if the matter really nagged at him.

"You've never opened it have you?" I said more than asked.

His hand outstretched to the locket but hesitated and looked at me,"Do you mind?" He was itching to touch it. He wanted to know.

"She was your mother," I shrugged.

He gripped the small pendent in his hand and opened it. The picture of the four of us stared back at him. Eva, Dante, me, and him all smiling. We had been so little then. Eva had said that if the time and circumstances had been right, she'd wished that she given birth to me. That was the daughter she never had. I loved my mother, with all my heart, but I loved Eva too. She had been the most kindest of people besides my mother. Her and mother were identical in personality. Perhaps that was why I identified Eva as a second mother.

"Those days are far away," He said, almost remorseful.

"Not as far as you think. I'm still here aren't I?" I touched my hand to his at the locket. His hands were cold, but somehow gentle in the way he held the locket. His eyes came up to meet mine and we stared for a long moment.

"Whatever that is supposed to mean," He looked away then back at the pendent, pulling his hand away.

"What it's supposed to mean is that the past is the past sure, but even still, I'm here. Whether you like it or not, I'm here. A remnant of the past is standing in front of you, therefore how far away could it really be? I'm not her, and I'm not Dante, but you know I was there all those years. I was always there, and I'm here now, and Dante is out there somewhere in this city too. We're not so far away from each other. Granted I'm sure you would rather not think about Dante but still. Do you understand Vergil? I'm here..."

He looked at me again with that remorse. Vergil didn't feel remorse. He didn't feel sorrow. He didn't feel at all. He locked those feelings away and piled over it with his coldness and sardonic attitude. Those feelings though, they always seemed visible to my eyes. Was I the only one who could see through him? Had Dante-

No. Vergil hadn't been this way when they were younger. He and Dante had shared a bond, but now Vergil only seemed to despise Dante. Bringing up Dante brought back memories for him though.

"The question still remains unanswered. I still don't understand why she gave it to you," He finally said.

"She wanted you and Dante and I to live on. She never wanted us to all drift apart. She wanted me to remember you two and stick by you two. Even after you dissapeared I still hoped that you weren't dead, though that was what Dante and I believed. What we suffered. To lose a mother and a brother, a twin at that, it killed him. This was her way of keeping us together no matter what happened. We are together in this picture and that was what she wanted. She even made me promise that if anything were to happen to her while we were still young, that I wouldn't leave you two. I'd watch out for you two the way a friend does. Dante and I were friends, were even boyfriend and girlfriend, and I feel horrible for abandoning him,"

"Then leave. Go to him,"

"I don't want to!" I exclaimed, "Gah, don't you get it? I stay because I don't want to leave! Dante doesn't need me anymore, that's why I don't go back to him. I may not feel that way about him anymore, but I don't want him dead either, damnit. And you, you're far more gone than I would have thought, but I won't change you. I can't. But at least I can be there the way Eva wanted me to be." I was borderline angry now. Or frustrated would be a better way of describing it. Couldn't he just understand? His mother and brother...

And I ... loved him.

Perhaps there was some bad blood between him and Dante now, but he was causing it. Had he not shown up willing to kill Dante, Dante would have welcomed him back with open arms, because he loved him! Eva wouldn't want this for him! Not even Sparda, who i could barely recall his face, would not want this for him.

"You stay because you think my mother would want you to?"

"That, but I stay for my own reasons as well," I snipped.

"You mean to get stronger,"

"Damnit, you know you want me to stay so just say it!" I cursed.

He smiled. That cocky smile. He was amused!

"What makes you think I care," His tone of voice was completely different from Dante's. Where Dante's was the voice of a rebellious teenager, Vergil's voice was more velvety. A different kind of music but so nice to listen to. There was darkness. So cool. It was ... pleasant.

"You think that nobody can see the vestige of your feelings. I can. I think I'm the only one that can read you, and I'm not that good at it. You asked me to come back here so that I wouldn't get hurt. You may appear the demon half, but you really can't help the man that you are." I gave him a sidelong glance and smiled.

"I asked you to stay because you would only cause trouble,"

"Ha, tell that story to someone else, cause I'm not buying it," I laughed at him.

"If I did hold some form of intimacey toward you don't you think I would have taken advantage of it by now? You are always here. It would be easy to," He looked down and realized that Yamato wasn't there.

"I pulled it from you before you hit the water. It's up there," I nodded toward the chair at the poolside, "and the reason you don't take advantage is because you don't want to admit to yourself that you still have feelings. Even though you fight against it, you can't help that instinct of yours. That human instinct,"

"Shut up," He said it coldly. He didn't like me saying that.

"Besides, isn't this taking advantage right here? You're standing in a pool with me while I'm naked. I don't think you can take much more advantage than as you are right now." I added.

Before I had even realized it or that he had even moved at all, he was kissing me! His strong hand slid down to the small of my back and held me to him while his other hand wound itself in my hair. I couldn't help but react. I responded the way I'd always wanted to. With pure tenacity. I molded myself to him and tangled my fingers in his wet tendrils of snow white hair.

Had I pushed him to the edge? Had my words made him snap? Well, then it was a good thing. Heat coursed through my body everytime his lips changed.

Then he let go.

Fuck! Damnit I wanted more! My entire body was whining and pleading for him but I didn't make any advance. He just stood there, body rock firm against mine and his forehead pressed to my mine. I wouldn't have noticed that if it had been anyone else. His cool breath hit me in minty wisps. My entire being was screaming for more. Yelling at me to grab him again, but I didn't. He'd stopped for a reason, besides, my breathing wasn't controlled yet.

"Was that taking advantage enough for you?" He said seductively. Oh hell no it wasn't enough!

"Not quite," I breathed.

"If anybody wants to take advantage it's you," He replied with that same velvety voice.

"So what if I do? I'm a woman, I have desires," I chuckled lightly.

Those sensuous lips met mine again and the heat coursed strong again through me.


	3. Still Angry?

"What happened here, stays here," I said, wrapping a towel around me and turning around to see him buttoning up his black vest; sealing the tight muscles and fine planes of skin away from sight.

"Whatever," He mumbled, doing up the last button. His clothes were all wet. I suppose I should have laid them out to dry a bit during our ... moment of instinctual sexual desires. Yeah, that made sense. Vergil would never admit it as anything more than that. Quite frankly I was afraid to call it anything else. It was obvious there was more to it but still. To hound him immediatly afterward over it would be absolutely stupid. If I wanted it to happen again, I would have to wave it off as a simple male and female need of sexual contact.

Yet, still I found myself ...

"Would you like me to dry those?" I offered, reaching for the convienately sexy, light blue, silk robe to wrap around me after I had dried enough. I got the satisfaction of his eyes widening for a mere second at seeing me in the fine fabric.

It did excensuate on all the right places. I giggled mentally.

"It's fine," He had that detached expression in his eyes again, "Besides, what would I where for the time being?"

"Arkham will be curious," I stated.

"Arkham does not need to concern himself with my personal matters," He went for the coat. The wet fabric looked ten times heavier. I had liked it much better when I had my legs wrapped around him in the water and was tearing the heavy thing from him. Ah, but that wouldn't happen for a long time, if not ever.

"I agree. That's why I don't like the fact that he is making his way down the hall right now, and Alice is waiting for you," I sensed that sinister aura of his. The aura of a weak demon but nevertheless, still dark and twisted. Alice, the shallow, and better described as weak aura that emitted no sign of intelligance or value by my standpoint, was waiting outside Vergil's room. I caught the image of her, waiting impatiently. I was definately better at sensing auras than Vergil was, and he was the one who taught me. I could even catch glimpses of the person themselves if I wanted to. Mostly though it just occured naturally. I was intune to Vergil, and the others, so it was easier.

"Honestly," He exhaled, "does she not have anything better to do than bother me?"

"Oh how difficult it must be, having a girl who is infatuated with you," I replied with sarcasm.

"It's one thing when it's a woman like you, but a completely different thing when she's nothing but an annoying little brat who has served no purpose so far,"

"I'm not infatuated with you," I lied, "and perhaps you are a demon, but still, is it such a crime to show her at least a little attention? It doesn't have to be intimate at all. Hell, you could spit on her and she'd be happy," I said grudgingly. I really didn't like Alice. It wasn't that I was jealous, I mean seriously. I just had sex with Vergil, so it wasn't like she had something I didn't. She just got on my nerves. Why was I standing up for her now?

"Is that some form of pity you feel for her?" He grabbed Yamato and closed the distance between us until he stood inches from me. I glared at him. This was one of our normal intimidation contests we always seemed to have. I couldn't break or he would see it as weakness. So far it had always ended at a draw but he seemed persistant. I could never intimidate him, but if he didn't intimidate me it was just as good as winning.

"I don't know, is that some form of desire that you are feeling right now?" I smiled oh- so- cheekily. His aura had a rising sense of desire emanating from it. He only knew how to identify somebody's aura, whereas I could fully read it. That also helped when it came to reading him, though he usually kept that in check around me.

"You need to quit reading my aura," He said.

"You need to quit lying. It's not attractive," I smirked.

"It seems to work," He leaned in and grabbed my lips, bruising them against his.

"Arkham," I snarled and pulled myself from him not a second before I heard the door begin to open.

"What timing," Vergil growled at seeing Arkham enter. Thankfully we weren't standing inappropiately close. There shouldn't have been anything suspicious. Except Vergil's drenched clothes, "Arkham," Vergil addressed him in a way that also said _"what the hell do you want"_

"I have located the second seal," Arkham said in that slithery voice, "I've sent Alice to retrieve the amulet,"

"Amulet?" I turned to Vergil who eyed me carefully. Did Arkham mean Dante's half of the amulet? Vergil intended to take his brother's amulet? That was enough to send a flare of anger through me. Vergil could sense that too.

"Dante's half of the amulet our mother gave us," He confirmed. I sent a glare that would have been enough to kill had it had any power behind it.

"Oh," I said curtly. I looked at Arkham and back at Vergil, "Well, in any case I will be excusing myself," I gave a sidelong glare at Vergil before turning to leave, grabbing my things as I left. I shut the door behind me lightly and made the long way back to my room.

It was a few hours before Vergil made his appearance. He was dry and crisp clean. It almost made me want to gag knowing the dirty deeds he was executing and all the while he appeared clean of any of it. I was laying on my couch with the oil lamp burning on the stand. It was dark and the moon offered some comfort, illuminating my room in silver, white, and a hint of blue.

"I'm sensing a cold, foul, selfish aura entering my room," I said with acid.

"Is that supposed to be an insult?" His voice was cold but I could hear amusement.

"You seem to be offended so I suppose it is," I layed there, the back of my head to him. He couldn't see me but by focusing on his aura, I could see him. He stood right inside my doorway, coatless, bootless so that his jeans were all the way down to his feet, and the vest was unbuttoned halfway down. Normal circumstances I would say he was every girl's fantasy come true. Right now though, I was a little too angry to care.

"You're angry," _Oh, let's have a state the obvious contest shall we?_ I thought to myself.

"What gave you that impression?" I snarled.

"I saw that look you gave me," He said, "Hard not to notice,"

"Well, you already know I'm not all that thrilled about your plan in the first place, but you failed to mention you needed Dante's half of your mother's amulet," I snapped.

"I didn't know I had to reveal every detail of this to you,"

"Well, considering it's Dante's only remaining memoir of your mother, I think it's wrong,"

"You're dedication to my mother and us is borderline foolish,"

"You've never complained," I hesitated, "then again how would one know given that you have no emotions,"

"Dante's half is needed to use the power of sparda itself." Vergil made it sound like I was an idiot for not knowing.

"Why should you get all the power and not him? Sparda knew that, that's why he split the amulet. That way neither of you could have the full power. He never wanted the door to the demon world to be opened. Here you are gallavanting around trying to free the seals and throw this world to the wolves just so that you can have your father's power. What the hell do you intend on doing with all that power, huh? Just sit around with it? Honestly, what do you do with all that? Just have it to have it? If that's the case then you're nothing but a selfish demon. You're no different from the demons who killed your mother-" He had me pinned on the floor before I even realized he'd moved.

"Don't you ever compare me to them!" He hissed angrily.

"Why not, you're acting like one right now." I nearly whispered and glanced at the dagger I held at his throat. He noticed it for the first time and gave a grudging smile.

"Seems you learned a little from me," He growled.

"Try anything, I'll show what else I've learned," I growled equally.

"I'd like to see you try," He was serious. Those frosty eyes held no sign of a bluff.

"Give me a reason and I will," Honestly, I knew I couldn't. I couldn't kill him... unless he aimed to kill me. Even then it would be hard to do. Not just because of our experience earlier, but I couldn't because I did care about him. I couldn't break my promise to Eva. Even though Dante though Vergil dead, I couldn't help the feeling that I would be betraying Dante if I killed him.

In the end, I just couldn't kill him. Whether it was my betrayal to Eva and Dante or not. I couldn't do it.

"You need more reason than the threat of opening the demon world?" I almost lost focus the moment his breath stabbed me like a thousand needles and my body heated over, but I didn't flinch and kept my stare.

"You know why I don't kill you," I spat with my anger.

He held back a light laugh and bent his face lower to mine, the dagger pressing harder to the soft skin at his throat. His cold hands had a rush of heat course through them and it nearly burned my skin my wrists where sweat began to moisten his grip. He never took his eyes from mine as he descended down on me and breathed huskily into my mouth before making contact.

Damn him for having such perfect lips. Damn him for doing this to me. Damn him for-

Oh fuck it, I didn't care. I dropped the blade from my hand, slicing him a little and making a dull clang on the floor as it hit. The smell of blood instantly hit my senses and I pulled him hard against me, releasing a growl somewhere deep in his throat. He slowly slid his hand up under the soft linen of my once again, conveniently, flimsy nightgown and ran it up along my legs until he was holding my thigh. I began to tear his vest from him, all the while trying not to be distracted by his kisses. Those fine planes of pure muscle were exposed to be explored by every part of my being. Next was his pants and I tore those free as well. Oddly enough he didn't rip my gown from me immediately but instead tore away my panties and entered me there.

I gasped at the surprise moaned when he thrusted slowly and every time gave more force behind it. Dear lord it was better than the first time. I wrapped my legs around him and bit his lower lip before flipping us so that I hovered over him, tasting every inch of his chorded body before taking in his pleasure below. That position didn't last long before he flipped me over to my side caressed my cheek the whole time he pleasured me. He buried his face in my neck and hair, kissing patterns. He began to finally undress me, but he did it slowly as if savoring it. First my shoulders then he had to separate from me to disband the rest.

"Vergil," I sighed when he thrust again. He bit my ear and I moaned.

"Are you still angry," He said huskily.

"Yes," I gasped.

"Good," He snarled and entered harder than before. I could feel his muscles contracting with every movement. His aura was somehow becoming calm, easy, and passionate. Mine on the other hand had to be rushing and screaming and licking at his like flames. How was he being cleansed? Was he really feeling these things now? His normally black and purple aura of hatred and darkness was being white and silvery like the moonlight that draped over our bodies. Now that I looked for real, he was glowing. Not in a literal sense of glowing but he was illuminated by his aura and the moon. Vergil at his most beautiful if you asked me.

"Cold," I strained as he shook me with a burst of ecstasy. He was cold like he always was, but he was cool in a peaceful sort of way.

"You're burning,"He hesitated a moment but shook it off. He was right, I was burning. I looked at my hand and saw my own aura. It was pulsing a red color with licks of orange and purple. I was getting excited. He was driving me to the edge, there for my aura was being compressed and needed to released. I needed to let go completely and let it flow.

I noticed that his white aura was beginning to overcome my own. I needed to open up to him. Let him into me. Let him take away my worries and tame them. He wanted to too.

So I let him. I was instilled with the same silvery light that had engulfed him and our experience was taken to an even more unimaginable level. My soul itself was beginning to rise and I could have swore part of it shot out of me to the moon and back. This was so much better than at the pool. This felt more unexpected. More spontaneous and daring. To go from threatening each other to making love was an unexpected twist.

"Sarla," A snarl ripped from his throat and he kissed me lightly but passionately on the lips.

I let him love me. I let him share his newfound peaceful aura with me and pass it to me. I let him take all my worries and troubles away.


	4. Master and Slave

His body offered comfort while I slept. The crisp linen pulled over our bodies offered shelter from the suddenly chilled atmosphere of the room. I felt something shift beneath me and I awoke.

"Just me," He reassured and I felt his fingers run through my hair. How could he say "just him"? He was far from a "just".

"Who else would it be?" I teased.

"I could have been Arkham for all you knew,"

"Except I didn't have sex and fall asleep with Arkham,"

"And I didn't have sex and fall asleep with Alice,"

"Ew, she's a child," I laughed.

"And Arkham is a deformed man twice your age," He whispered at my ear.

"So I guess that leaves us to each other where intimacey is involved. Considering we are the only choices for each other," I smiled.

"I suppose it does." He rolled and hovered over me, smothering me with a passionate kiss like before. I wound my fingers in his silky, fine hair. It was no longer slicked back but fell in wisps and tendrils. He looked like Dante.

No, he looked like himself. I didn't see one in the other when I looked at them now.

"Again? This'll be three times today," I giggled against his lips, "If you keep this up, we'll burn out by the end of the week,"

"My name isn't Dante. I don't burn out," He silenced me, slipping his tongue in there, "besides, a kiss was all I was looking for,"

"Well I have no objections there," I inserted my tongue too, and all that hot, raw, nature of his flooded me.

"Unfortunately, I need to go," He pulled his lips away but I held his lower one captive a moment.

"Of course you do," I said glumly with sarcasm.

"Well, as much as I wouldn't mind to continue this, I have other matters to attend to. It is morning afterall," He sighed but let his arms slowly collapse so that he layed over me, his face rested at my throat. He looked like a small child in need of comfort in the way he layed there. I wrapped my arms about him and ran my fingers through his hair playfully.

"It's not morning until the sun is out and shining," I murmured.

"It's supposed to rain today, so what does that matter?"

"Still, you got some time. Just relax for a little while. You need it." I kissed the top of his head.

"Perhaps, but I want to retrieve my father's power as soon as possible." He exhaled and snuck a small kiss at my chest.

"Well if that's the case then maybe you should get up," I tested.

He layed there silent.

"What's wrong? I thought you wanted to get up,"

"Perhaps I share my brother's sense of laziness at times,"

"Or perhaps you just enjoy laying with me too much. You don't have to label it as your brother's trait," I rationalized, "though Dante is very lazy."

"I hate that I don't like the idea that you and him were intimate,"He confessed. I felt his body heat flare with his embarressment.

"Basically you hate being jealous," I condensed it. It sounded far to complicated the way he said it.

"I suppose,"

"Don't be jealous,"

"How can I not, knowing my own brother has done to you what I just did?" He sounded frustrated and ... jealous at the idea. I knew he said he was, but was he really jealous?

"Well, Dante and I never hit home base. We got close one time but my mom interrupted," I giggled then paused but looked at him with what was probably a sad expression, though I knew I wasn't sad. How could I be when I was with him? "Do you think I don't feel awkward having been with one brother and now with the other? I feel like I get around. It's not a good feeling for me. Anyway, you shouldn't be jealous. At least now you know that you were my first time,"

"Do you regret sleeping with me?" His tone of voice sounded curious but at the same time, I knew he was afraid of what I might say. His muscles had tensed somewhat.

"Not at all," I said simply and he relaxed, "but, when I was with him, it was because we were in a relationship. We were not just executing the need for male/female contact like you claim to be doing. Everything was perfect, but I noticed that with you it's just so much more than perfect. I'm not even dating you, can't even consider myself your girlfriend or that we have a relationship and it's still so much better. And we only had sex for the first time not 10 hours ago," I held his face in my hands and forced him to look at me.

"So what, I'm a better time than my brother?"

"No, you've just got something about you that your brother doesn't, for me. Also, I never had a "time" with your brother, anyway. You got what he does, just that there is something more, that I can't label, that makes it all the more better," I stared deep into those once frosty blue eyes, that appeared more like deep, calm pools of water, now, "and I'm not just talking about sex, I'm talking about just being near you. It's ridiculous living with you when I'm drawn to you so strongly."

"I'm drawn to you as well, but ..." He brought one hand up to mine at his cheek and held it but didn't meet my gaze.

"You don't know your own emotions," I answered for him, and his eyes met mine. They said it all, "And even if you did, you couldn't let those emotions take over,"

They said,_ I can't afford weakness. I need power and to have absolute power, I cannot afford weakness._

Though he hadn't said it, I had probably read his mind. He didn't say anything.

"It's not a weakness to love someone. If anything, I think it makes you stronger. When you love someone you'd do anything for them. Anything to keep them safe. In that, you have more power because you _have_ to protect them at all costs. A person is at their strongest when they are protecting something they love," I paused, "and your father is proof of that."

"Right," He sounded unconvinced at the last part.

"Your father was already a terribly strong demon, but to go that extra mile to save humanity, he managed to defeat the demon king himself. Sparda didn't have the power to accomplish that before he decided to protect the humans, whether he did it out of pity or not, he was dedicated to protect them, and I can only assume that your father loved something about humans. For instance, when he met your mother. Though that was thousands of years later. Nevertheless, he loved her."

"You think I'm in love with you?" Perhaps that hadn't been what I'd been getting at in the first place, but looking back on my words, it sounded that way. However, he made it sound like it was the most stupid idea in the world.

"Ha! I know you're in love with me. You just don't understand your feelings because you stuffed them away in some corner of your heart and hid them. You can't help yourself when you're around me, though. Some form of feeling surfaces and you hate that, but at the same time you like it. That feeling is your affections for me. Believe me, I've known for a while that you cared about me on some level, but after today I know for a fact,"

"If that's how you think it, then I suppose that I have had affections for you since we were little kids," He said, lacing his fingers through mine and pushing himself up to look down at me. There was an almost dreamlike intensity in those light eyes of his again. All that armor was stipped from him and I was seeing for the first time a Vergil who wasn't completely dead inside and lacking feeling.

"What?" I breathed incredulously.

"If the feelings that I have for you are my intimate affections, then that means that I have felt it for you since we were little kids. More accurately when I met you," He said with a silky voice.

"Since then?" I was hit with disbelief. There was no way he had. Had he? He nodded, "Why didn't you ever say anything?" I managed.

"How could I? We were so young it wouldn't have mattered. Besides you only had eyes for Dante back then."

"Because he actually seemed to like me. You were always more remote but never cold like you are now, but still. You never appeared interested. If I had known I probably would have acted on it. I always thought you mysterious and it drew me, but Dante was so adventurous and wanted to have fun all the time. In truth I guess I liked you both." I giggled at the last, "Boy, was I a two timer."

"Would you have chosen me?" He asked.

I thought on it. When we were children it had always been Vergil I'd secretly admired. Even as kids. He just seemed like the smarter, cooler one of the two. It was like when I used to watch _Naruto _with Dante... for like a month before we got bored- We were more outdoorsie kids. We liked sports, videogames(not exactly outdoorsie but still fun), and running around like idiots trying to shoot each other with the paintball guns we'd got for Christmas- but anyway, it was like how Sakura admired Sasuke, while Naruto was in love with Sakura. Perhaps not the openly "_oh Vergil, you're so cool, and hot! I think we'd be great together!"_ like Sakura was, but I had secretly admired him. Yeah, I'm a dork.

In the end I'd ended up liking Dante because of how indifferent Vergil had been toward me. I'd liked them both, but Vergil had caught my interest first. I was oddly drawn to him where other people were alienated by him. Now that I recalled, Vergil was my first kiss, if you counted being four years old. He'd been sad and I had kissed him because _"that was what my mommy did when I was sad."_ However that was beside the point. The choice between Dante and Vergil, was tough. If I'd known then what I knew now, I'd have chosen Vergil.

"If you had given me the offer. I was too scared to try to flirt with you. Dante just blatantly flirted with me so it was easy. Dante was easy for me. Didn't need a lot of effort. But you I probably would have said yes had I known. You were afterall, my first crush. Haha, and my first kiss." I answered. I'd always liked the two of them equally but if Vergil had asked me, I definately would have said yes.

"I guess I am a fool then aren't I?" He sighed heavily with a smile.

"Yes, yes you are," I forced my head up to grab his lips with my own.

Time held no form of meaning. We laid there with only the sound of our breath and movement beneath crisp sheets. The tickling sensation of his surprisingly cool breath swimming over me, almost made me shiver. Stars swarmed into the darkness of my closed eyes and I felt spectacular. I felt on top of the world, like nothing could possible reap me of such pleasure.

"So is this going to be a daily thing?" I said against his lips.

"If you want it to be. I guess it's fine." He forced me back down into my pillow and kissed my throat.

"You guess?" I laughed. "God forbid you ever say yes or no,"

...

Watching him sit there with a book was in its own way relaxing. He seemed frustrated though. I had occupied myself with my own reading, but I still watched him carefully.

"You can't read it?" I finally ended our silence. The silence that he'd held for over a good half hour.

"It's use of ancient texts is hard to decipher. Only someone with vast knowledge of those ancient languages could read this," He was frustrated, clearly, the way he slammed the book shut with his one hand and sighed in defeat, "Arkham," He said grudgingly.

He sat there in silence for a moment in thought. He held his hand to his face, exhaled deeply and then stood up. He looked out the window at the moon. His menacing shadow cast wings from it, the form giving way to his true self that hid within his beautiful exterior.

"Alice," I sighed.

"I know," He mumbled. He made his way to the door and I held his coat to him. He grinned wolfishly and I rolled my eyes as I stood up and assisted him into it.

"Devil," I said tartly.

"Slave," He grabbed me around the waist and pulled me in for a kiss. I didn't give; making him work for my lips.

"I don't like being called a slave," I almost caved when he breathed at my throat.

"Come on," He said huskily.

"No. Not until you call me Master," I slid my hands sensuously down his chest to his abbs, stopping at his waistline. He kissed my neck lightly. I grabbed his pants at his belt loop and pulled him hard. He groaned deeply in his throat.

"No," He snarled.

"Say it," I pulled again.

"Denied,"

"Then no kisses for you," I let go and untangled myself from him. He looked at me with those eyes. The eyes of a hunter. He looked like he had just found his prey.

"I'm not going to give," I assured.

"You'll cave eventually," He assured just as confidently, before walking right past me, "Master,"

I grabbed his hand and pulled him back to me and kissed him.

"Was that so bad?" I said once we pulled our lips away, "How did that feel coming out of your mouth?"

"Like acid," He confessed, "but sacrifice must be made to gain a prize sometimes."

"Well, you of all people would know that," I snipped.

"Don't be so cold,"

"Ditto,"

"You're angry aren't you?" He looked at me hard.

"I just don't like Alice," I sneared.

"Oh, then you're jealous," He seemed amused.

"How could I be jealous when you're with me? She is a child who dresses like a stipper. I don't need to dress skimpy to turn your head,"

"That you do not." He kissed me again. It was a short chaste kiss. The kind of kiss a husband and wife gave each other before leaving for work, "But it would be appreciated,"

"I didn't take you for that kind of guy," I thought a moment, "Leather? Or school girl?"

He grinned mischieviously, "How about slave,"

"Dammit then you're the master!" I giggled.

"In truth I'd prefer if you stuck to those lacy silk nightgowns. I'm not one for role playing. I find it pointless when it's you. You don't need a skimpy leather outfit," He grinned hungrily and dissapeared out the door. I caught the excitement in Alice's aura spike and captured a glimpse of her at the end of the hall by tuning into her.

"I suppose I should watch this," I sighed. No doubt he would completely disregard Alice and whatever it was she was dying to show him. The poor girl, yet I still got amusement from it. I saw him approach her as she waited at the balcony. He wasn't even aproaching her but making his way to the rail itself.

"That was what you wanted me for?" He sounded unimpressed.

"Arkham praised me for it!" She souned so embarressed. Here she had thought she'd make Vergil happy. I saw him turn his head to give her a glare.

"I hate it when you look at me like that!" She yelled angrily now.

"Tell Arkham I am heading on ahead to the place," He hopped over the balcony and landed perfectly stories below.

"Only Arkham knows of that place," She said matter-of-factly.

"As do I." I heard him say curtly down below. Alice still hadn't noticed me behind her now.

"Doesn't it suck being looked at like you're a useless, pathetic, worm of a being?" I said with fake sympathy, "You should be nicer to her, Vergil. She can't help what she is." I fake lectured.

"Devil," He snarled hungrily up to me.

"Slave," With that, I back flipped over the balcony after giving a salute to Alice who looked at me with contempt. I landed facing him.

"Where are you going?" I stood with my hand on my hip.

"It doesn't concern you," He still had that hungy look.

"Well I certainly concerned you last night, so I suggest you concern me in return," I smirked.

"I know where the next seal is. I'm going to release it. I don't want you accompanying me," He stated.

"I wasn't planning on accompanying you. Actually I have my own errand to run." I thought about my mom and knew it was time to visit her. I hadn't seen her in nearly a year.

"Oh?"

"My mother. I'm going to visit her," I answered.

We walked to the final door that lead outside.

"Do you-" He started then stopped.

"Do I want you to come? If you want to I don't mind. My mother probably would like to meet the man who I left everything to follow. Besides she only remembers you when you were fourteen." I didn't know if I was happy that he wanted to come with me or scared. Vergil didn't normally care for my personal matters. Then again, he had admitted (not in the right words) that he loved me and had since we were little. Maybe he was gaining some form of feeling.

"Do you want me to?" He asked like it was nothing but I knew he was dying to know.

"Do you want to?" I flipped it back at him.

"I don't care, honestly but-"

"Do as you wish Vergil. It doesn't matter to me either way."

He grinned but once the door shut behind us he kissed me quickly and softly before leaving.

I really just wished he knew what he was feeling.

It would make things far easier.


	5. Heated Situation

The house was the same as when I had left it. I knocked once. Then twice. No answer. The door was unlocked so I let myself in. I stepped carefully through the small house, looking for the lightswitch. Instantly the room lit up and I was surrounded by pictures. Pictures of my childhood.

Pictures of the gang. Dante, Vergil, and I. Eva was in a few. Pictures of my mom and I. It was like going back in time and looking at myself grow. I stood in the living room after meandering my way around the rest of the lower level. The oven beeped to say it was at the right temperature. It all smelled the same as she had had it when I'd left.

Something felt different though. There was a chilled edge to the room. I searched for an aura and found it, or lack of one. That's when it hit me. The difference wasn't just the chilled atmosphere. The smell was slightly different. There was a metallic smell coming from the upstairs. No.

It was blood. The second I realized, I was flying up the stairs as fast as I could carry myself. What had happened?

"Mom?" I yelled frantically. She didn't answer. I couldn't bring myself to consider the lack of aura was her. I felt the presence of someone but it wasn't filled with life. The aura wasn't strong. It was fading quickly.

"Mom?" I screamed as I ran to her bedroom door. No one was there. I went to the spare room. No one.

I finally brought myself to go to her sewing room. I slowly pushed the door open only to find what I definately didn't want to see. My mother was laying on the floor, her blooding soaking her yellow top and staining the white carpet beneath her the color of deep red whine. Her strawberry blonde hair was colored a fiery red from the blood. I couldn't bear the sight but I still hurried to her side. Her jade eyes were half closed and it was then that I realized she was barely breathing. I couldn't even count the number of wounds inflicted on her. All from some horrible blade that had slit her delicate, small frame.

"Mom?" I whimpered.

"Sarla?"She said, without meeting my eyes.

"You're alive?" I cried, a tear falling onto her face.

"You're home?" She sobbed but it caused her pain as she winced.

"I'm home, mom. I'm sorry I didn't come sooner!" I cradled her and her eyes looked up blindly.

"Don't blame yourself baby. It was bound to happen sooner or later... I'm just... glad you weren't here ... when they came. ... I'm glad you went with ...Vergil. You needed to get stronger. ... if you were live ... being what you are." She paused between her phrases and it broke me to see her swallowing her own blood. It broke me to see her in such pain and agony.

"Don't talk mom, it will only hurt you," I hoped to spare her at least a little pain.

"I can bear the pain if it means to speak with you before I leave you." She coughed blood over herself and me, "I can't see, honey. How have you been?"

"Well, before I tell you anything else, I want to tell you that Vergil and I are kind of, well, together, but he wouldn't ever admit that, though he practically told me that he's been in love with me since we were little kids,"I laughed to hid the big sob that was about to tear through me.

"That's good. I always knew you'd fall in love with one of those boys. Everyone thought it was Dante, but Eva said at first that you and Vergil were made for each other. I guess she was right after all." She smiled, though it was a bloody smile that did her no justice. My mother was beautiful and held the attention of so many men caught in her gaze, but now she was bloodied and fragile. She was dying and she still gave a smile. The smile she always wore that warmed people's hearts but only killed mine at the moment.

"Mom-"

"I knew when you left with him, you would end up loving him. No matter what darkness laid in his heart," She reached up to touch my face but couldn't hold her hand there, so I held it there for her.

"Yeah, you were right,"

"Of course I was ... I'm your mother. ... not to mention a priestess... I know when I know," I held her as a cough ripped through her.

"Vergil is planning on reviving the temen ni gru , mom. I don't know what to do,"

"Isn't it obvious? You must... stop him. ... Bring forth whatever light is left in him. You cannot let him open the gate. The whole world will ... be devoured,

"But-"

"Your father, will ..."

"My father will what?" I pressed as she seemed to fade. No! No! She couldn't leave!

"Not even Vergil will be able to win." She whispered.

"What do you mean? Mom, please tell me," I panicked.

"You and Vergil. It's funny that you come ... from rivaled bloodlines... and yet... both he and you love each other. ...he does love you, Sarla. ... He's not entirely lost... save him." She finally looked at me like she could see me.

"Mom?"

"You're even more beautiful than before," She murmured and a tear fell, "both of you" She added then smiled wider.

"Mom,"

"Take care of her... promise me.,..." she breathed, looking past me this time. "You look just like him ... your mother would be amazed... you've grown up well ... all three of you," I didn't understand what she was saying until I saw the shadow standing over us. I turned my head to Vergil standing over me.

He didn't say anything to my mother. He looked like an angel, albeit one of the deathly kind. A guardian of death.

"Vergil," I felt the tears flow freely now as I said his name.

"I love you, Sarla. ... You will do well ... to remember that..." She was wrenched with another blood filled cough, "You're stronger than he thinks you are," She said barely audible before smiling that smile and fading away from me entirely. She was entirely still in my arms.

Vergil knelt beside me and closed her eyes for her and looked to me and those eyes seemed to darken when he saw me holding her closer to me.

"Priestesses are burned in their temple. Do you know where it is?" He seemed as caring as he could manage. That was enough though, for me to know he didn't want me to feel like this. I nodded in response and let him take her from me and he carried her the way he had the first time he'd found me after all those years.

"Come on, I saw you found a car," He waited for me to stand and I did, but it was at my own pace that I followed. I could barely find the energy to move now.

"I am sorry," He said once he laid her down in the back of the car and covered her with a sheet from the house.

I didn't answer him but only stared ahead as he drove. He didn't say anything more even during the ceramony. Watching my mother's body be devoured by flames was my reality check. She was gone. I would never see her again, but I would see the demons who so cruelly butchered her, and I would make them suffer four times more than she had by there hands. I would have my revenge.

One way or another, I would kill the fucking devils who took my mother.

...

It wasn't until three days after I moped and laid in bed did Alice come to tell me that Vergil had encountered Dante while opening the had tried to have Dante open the seal but Dante had refused. Vergil arrived in time to spar with Dante and release the seal. He had even let Dante have the Amulet that Alice had stolen.

When I heard he'd returned the amulet I couldn't help but wonder why. I wondered if it had been because of what I had said or maybe Dante had convinced him on his own.

I had wanted to talk to Vergil about it, but he had seemed distant since my mother died. He'd just told me that I needed to rest and I had. In fact it was about all I could do. Knowing my mother was no longer in this world was pain enough. Knowing that my existance was what had caused her death just made me want to die. How could I not feel responsible? Because she had given birth to me, demons had struck her down. It was all my father's doing too. I didn't even know who my father was, though. Vergil had done some research on the four most powerful demons, trying to figure out if any had abilities similar to my own, or if they had had any relations with humans, but none seemed to be fitting.

I would find out who my father was. Then I would kill him. I would obliterate him. I would exact my revenge a thousand fold to what was inflicted on my mother. To do that, I definately needed to get stronger. I would do anything to gain more power.

My thought process seemed borderline Vergil to me. Power was essential in my revenge. I didn't know what he wanted all that power for, but I wanted power to take revenge. I had a motive. I wouldn't gain that power by destroying the world without any care but, I would find a way. Nothing could stop me.

"Sarla?" Alice popped into view from my door. I didn't move from my couch.

"What is it, Alice?" I didn't bother with my usual irritation towards her. It all seemed like too much effort now.

"Do you want to go get something to eat? There isn't really anything here." She sounded almost sympathetic towards me. Demons didn't sympathize. Demons didn't care for others. Then again, she wasn't exactly a normal demon. She acted human more than anything.

"How about some cake," I had been eating incredible amounts of food. I guess I was a girl who ate her feelings.

"I suppose," I answered, making the extra effort to rise and walk.

She didn't respond but waited for me. I left a note on the bed for Vergil if he chose to visit me and I wasn't there, explaining where I was. I was definately in the need for some cake with gallons of Italian buttercream frosting slapped on it. I pulled my hair into a ponytail and threw on a pair of jeans, sweatshirt, and tennis shoes.

Yeah, I looked like a slob. This was my "I really don't care what I look like today" attire.

I was still in question where Vergil got the money to provide food for us. I only assumed he stole it seeing as how he didn't have a job or anything. Or maybe he was doing side jobs and I just didn't know it, though I knew that wasn't his style. He definately didn't work. I always concluded that it was probably best I didn't know where the money came from.

The bakery was surprisingly empty which was how I liked it. I ordered the most fattening cake imaginable and some cream horns. I'm aware that the name doesn't sound right to all those perverts out there. I might as well have cleared out the bakery with all the treats I bought. Thankfully Alice had found us a car to drive before leaving the mansion. She had definately gone all out to try and make me feel better, and it was definately not something expected from her.

I went to open my door when someone call my name from behind. It was a voice I wished hadn't called to me. How could I face him now with Alice in the car? How could I face him when I was allied with his brother, let alone having sex with him?

"Sarla!" Dante yelled more urgently. Half of me wanted to ignore him and pretend I didn't hear but the other half knew that he wasn't stupid and would know I was ignoring him.

"Don't get out, Alice, I mean it," I commanded before shutting my door and turning to face Dante who was running towards me now. He wore a shirt for a change and a pair of dark jeans. He still wore those damn worn out boots though. His hair was the same length as Vergil's if he let it down. I hadn't seen Dante in nearly a year and a half.

"Haven't seen you in a while," I forced a smile, trying to appear happier than I was. I was happy to see him but wanting to run all the same.

"Yeah, hey I got big news!" He sounded like he was going to die if he didn't tell me, but I knew what he was going to say.

"Oh yeah?" I said when he approached me and embraced me so fiercely I thought I couldn't breath. He gave me a quick kiss on the lips before letting me go, "well you get right to the kissing don't you?"

"I haven't seen you in so long, but I got to tell you something, now that you're here!" He seemed ready to burst.

"What is it?"

"Vergil isn't dead! He's alive and in the city! I had an encounter with him about three days ago! He's changed completely! If you see him, I want you to get away from him. He's not the same Vergil from before. He's entirely different. Hell, he tried to kill me." He held my shoulders firmly. I didn't answer, but just looked at him. I didn't know what else to say.

"If I can just convince him that what he's doing is wrong, and bring him back with me, it will all be the same. We can all be the way we used to! Which, by the way what he plans to do is open the gate to the demon world. I mean isn't it great, aside from him being a murderous asshole now? God, I'm so glad I found you. I've been looking for you for days. Vergil said you were in the city. I couldn't believe it." He smiled and kissed me again, but it was deeper this time. I didn't really respond and he looked at me baffled.

"What's wrong?" He quirked.

"I'm sorry," It was sincere. He had no idea how sorry I was.

"For what?"

"Sarla, sorry, but we need to go," Alice stood up on the other side of the car and looked at us with wide eyes.

"What. In. The. Fuck. Is she doing here?" He looked at me with fury. Not so much directed at me, but he was livid. He wanted to know now.

"I'm sorry. I knew Vergil was alive." I broke. Tears were welling and I was trying my best to hold them back.

"What?" He was confused.

"I've known for over a year. About six months after you came here. He saved me from a bunch of thugs in an alley." I confessed and he took a step away from me.

"You knew and you didn't tell me?" He raised his voice.

"You weren't around! Besides, he asked me not to!" I shouted.

"That's no excuse! You knew that my brother was alive and didn't tell me? God, you humans are all the same! You don't think!"

"Well if humans don't think, then you're more human than anyone!" Alice chimed in, "How could you not notice that she isn't human? Vergil did!"

"What'd you say you little shit?" Dante started toward her but I grabbed him.

"Sarla isn't any more human than you are! Even I know that!" She repeated.

"What is she talking about?" He demanded angrily.

I started to say something but Alice beat me to it.

"Didn't you ever notice? Vergil did! She's been with him for the past year getting stronger,"

"Alice-"

"What?" He shouted. Oh boy.

_Great Alice. Really. You're lucky I don't kill you right now._ My mind growled. I pinched the bridge of my nose in frustration. This was definately not how I wanted to start my day.

"You've been living with him?" I thought he was going to explode the way his face was turning red and his muscles were tightening.

"Something like that?" I sounded annoyed and tired. I wasn't annoyed, but I was tired, and I was about two seconds away from murdering Alice.

"So what? I leave and you shack up with my brother?"

I slapped him across the face hard, "It's not like that! He said I wouldn't be able to control my abilities seeing as how they weren't lying dormant anymore. He said he could help me get them under control! If it makes you feel better I told him to fuck off the first time! And I have been trying to bring him back! I don't like his plan but if I can't stop him then I can at least be there when he destroys himself, like Eva wants me to!"

"Your excuse is that promise that you made to my dead mother? You're saying you stay with my twin brother because my mother would want you to? That's bull, Sarla and you know it! Just-"

"She stays, because I want her to," Could the situation get anymore heated?

"Vergil, please-"

"Were you there when she was being beaten to death by some back alley trash? An enemy that she could have disposed of had she been able to utilize her abilities. I gave her the choice to follow me and gain control or to be a threat to everyone around her when she snapped one day. You left her alone, remember?" Vergil now stood between Dante and I. I held a hand at his back tentatively.

"Oh, you're one to talk! You left both of us without even a word. You let us believe you were dead for all those years! Do you know how many tears she cried over you and mother? She wasn't even our mother's daughter or your girlfriend and she wept for you longer than I grieved!" Dante flailed his hands around. He was seriously pissed. If the situation could get any worse, why not make it? Did it really matter now?

"I'm well aware of how she dealt with it. I'm also well aware of the fact that she truly is all alone now that her mother is dead. If she wishes to leave than she is free to do so. She stays now, because I want her to. If you can't deal with it, that's your own problem," I heard the ring of Yamato being pushed up by his thumb. Vergil was furious now.

"What?" Dante's expression changed. He realized now, "Your mother?" He looked at me with sorrow.

I only nodded. What on earth could I say?

"Forgive me," He took it in a moment, "had I known, I wouldn't have-"

"It's okay," I waved it off, sparing him the guilt.

"When?" His intentions were pure. He wanted to know, but he just didn't understand it still hurt to talk about it.

"Three days ago," I answered quickly to get it out.

"So that's why you left so fast," He turned to Vergil.

"I left because she wanted me to accompany her there," Well at least I knew that he'd gotten the hint that day.

"Wait, are you two ... together?" Dante dreaded the thought, that much was clear to me. All hell would break loose if Vergil or I said yes.

"No," I answered before Vergil could, "he's just helping me get stronger," Vergil looked like someone had run over his dog when I said it.

Dante eyed me in response. He didn't look convinced.

"Your kisses always make me feel better," He said with chagrin. I knew exactly what he was getting at. He was such a devil, but you couldn't help but love the kid. He was in his own rebellious and stubborn way, a sweetheart. He held that devilish smile with now shame.

Vergil on the other hand, looked murderous. It didn't help my front when he looked like he would pull Yamato at any moment. I never thought Vergil could be so jealous. He quickly composed himself though, and managed to appear his normal cold and detached self, so much that even his aura was under control.

Vergil pulled me back and I almost wanted to yell at him for acting like such a child but stuffed it.

"What the hell?" Dante snarled.

"I have no business with you, brother," Vergil glared.

"Then why are you here?" I looked at him confused.

"Arkham has need of you," He said to me and only me. Those eyes were completely focused on me and nothing else. I could hardly pull my own eyes from his.

"Who's Arkham?" Dante demanded.

"Dante ..." I said his name. I really hated to hurt him. This wasn't how I had pictured our reunion.

"Sarla," He pleaded with me.

"This won't be the last time Dante, I promise. I wouldn't let our last time together be so cruel, but I truly must leave at this-"

"With him? Do you understand what he is trying to do? He's not who he used to be Sarla! You have to understand me on this! You can't fix him! He'll only hurt you!" Dante started for me but Vergil pulled me behind him.

"Well then it's a good thing he and I aren't together, so there isn't anything to hurt over," I said then turned to Alice, "You know how to drive. You bring my treats will you?"

"Sarla, as much as I can't stand the thought, I can't just let you go when you're in league with him," Dante pulled Ebony and Ivory from behind his back where surely they had been tuck away the whole time.

"I'm sure you couldn't take her on in your present state, Dante," Vergil said as if it were a fact.

"Still, I can't just let you go-"

"Sorry, Dante," I was. I materialized behind him and turned his head just the right way and laid him down slowly before picking him up and throwing him over my shoulder. He was out cold.

"I actually hadn't expected you to take him out so easily," Vergil sounded impressed.

I nodded to Alice to get heading back with my sweets, then turned to Vergil, "It was only because he didn't know about my abilities, and was caught offguard by them. Next time, it won't be so easy." I retorted.

"Next time?"

"Whenever you open the gate, he will be there. Sooner or later I'll be forced to fight him again,"

I dumped Dante off at a restaurant that seemed to recongnize him and offered to take him for me. Ironically it was a pizza joint, so it worked out for Dante when I left him three hundred bucks so he could get his own pizza and a ride home. Maybe he would get a laugh out of it. Who knew, maybe he wouldn't hate me entirely.

Yeah. Probably shouldn't hope for the impossible. He would definately be pissed at the very least.

"What does Arkham want me for?" I said once we were back at the mansion and nearing one of many libraries.

"You wanted to know about your father and who he was didn't you?" He grinned and I was caught off guard by it.

"Well, yeah. Did he find something?" I pressed.

"I wasn't just hiding the past three days. I went back to your mother's house. I found a pendent in the shape of an odd symbol. I showed it to Arkham and he knew immediately where to find it in the books," He answered and opened the door to the largest of the libraries in the estate.

"A pendent?" Of all things a pendent? Then again, I didn't underestimate Vergil's snooping abilities. If he found something of particular interest it usually lead to what he was looking for. He could have been a detective or private investigator if he'd lived a normal life.

Normal. That was a funny thought.

"To be more accurate, a crest. The mark of a demon," Arkham answered from the middle of the room.

"A demon's mark huh?" I thought about it. Reading was about the only thing to pass the time around here, so I had read up on many things. ...Well, the books that I could read. The mark of a certain demon signified its influence. The more higher powered demons, like the high Demon Lords and for example, the demon king himself, had their own marks, or crests to symbolize their existance and bloodline. The easiest way of putting it was a family crest. Either way, depending on how you recieve the mark you could increase your own power. Many lords bestowed they're own power onto another through a mark. More often than not though, if you bore the mark, you were most likely possessed.


	6. Raging Wings

**I do not own DMC**

"You may be familiar with it. It's the mark that's burned into the back of your neck," Vergil grimaced running a hand through his slicked back hair.

"I was unaware that I had a mark there," I rubbed the spot he described.

"That's because you can't see it in your current state," Arkham stated with a long bony finger pointed at me.

"What do you mean?" I was confused by this. What did they mean by "my current state"?

"Do you remember the demon you were kidnapped by when we were younger?" Vergil seemed to totally change the subject.

"Yeah, you and Dante rescued me," I answered. I recalled being chained and sealed to the spot by the spell the demon had used on me. He'd played with our minds like we were his puppets. He'd driven me so far that I'd blacked out. Looking back now I had a pretty good idea why I had blacked out.

"When you asked me what had happened when you blacked, I lied to you. I was hoping you'd remember yourself. I decided to wait and watch you. I knew you were demon after that, because when you blacked out you transformed. I hadn't understood what that demon had meant when he said that Mundus would be happy, but now..." He appeared a little nervous, uneasy over the subject. He was the son of Sparda. And I ...

"You think Mundus is my father?" It sounded more like I was testing the possibility of it the way I said it.

Neither answered at first, but when Vergil went to open his mouth, Arkham beat him to it.

"If you'll come over here I'll show," He gestured to the table behind him where several old books were stacked and papers were strewn around in a mess.

"Is this what you've really been doing the past few days?" I asked a little more curtly than I thought. I honestly was not in a good mood especially after our little incident and to think this was why I hadn't seen him, made me frustrated.

However, I knew he was doing it for my sake. I knew he wanted to help me find out. He knew I wanted revenge. I had the feeling that he was curious, himself.

He only nodded and still didn't look me in the eye. ...Was he ... scared? No. That was impossible. Something was bothering him though. I walked over to the table and glanced at the first open book that was turned to a page filled with surprisingly familiar text. It looked Italian but I wasn't interested in the text so much as I was interested in the picture. A great massive man with a beard and magnificent wings was depicted below another picture of a symbol of some sort. Three dots with a tail -that more resembled sixes- were placed in triangle formation with a dot in the middle and three lines coming out of the dot to reach for the other three but never touching them. I looked next to the book to see the pendent Vergil spoke of. It was identical to the one in the picture.

"This is Mundus' mark?" I turned to Arkham who now stood across the table from me.

"Yes," He paused, then looked behind me and I felt Vergil's hand brush my pony tail out of the way and press his hand to the back of my neck. I felt a sharp sting and then a dull burning before it cooled and seemed almost too cold. He handed me a mirror from the table and held the other one so that when I looked, I saw the back of my neck in his mirror. The proof was there. The very mark in the book and the pendent was scorched into my neck in onyx flames. The flames dissapeared and only the neat mark itself was left.

"So this means-" I couldn't even finish it.

"You were marked as his. Not only that, but your blood holds a powerful and pure scent where your demonic half is concerned. There is no doubt in my mind anymore that you have inherited the power of a Lord..." He drifted not only vocally but he was distant, "The Prince of Darkness, no less," He added.

I looked at him now, demanding his eyes but he refused. There was silence, and I all of a sudden felt uncomfortable, but mostly I felt unwanted, or shunned. I wanted to run away, now. I couldn't believe all this. It all just seemed impossible. For my mother to have been intimate with a demon in the first place just seemed far fetched, but a demon so evil as the demon king? Also, Mundus was defeated and sealed away, so it didn't make sense.

"I'm going back to my room," I finally said and walked past him. It was like a breeze picked up right there and my hair flew back softly and time seemed to slow at the moment I passed him. I couldn't explain it. It was like something was calling out to me. I almost whipped to face him but restrained the urge and kept walking.

His aura spiked an unknown feeling and I caught a glimpse of his face. His eyes were widened like he'd just witnessed a murder-though he probably would have been the murderer. There was an intense feeling. A feeling that even I couldn't label. Whatever the feeling was though, it was immensly strong and it was burning him up. Was it anger? It was the only thing I could think of. It was so strong that it didn't even have a feel to it. Was it...

Mixed feelings.

Yes! He didn't know what he was feeling. The mixed feelings were so strong that I couldn't even label a part of them. No matter how much I wanted to grab him, I still told myself not to. I got the feeling it wasn't a good idea to do so.

The last glimpse I had, he was gritting his teeth with fangs exposed for a change and an expression of pain written on his face.

...

"Alice, it's not that simple," I crammed a piece of cake the size of my hand in my mouth (not literally). Oh! So rich! This was my third piece of the day... well, in the past thirty minutes anyway. There was just so much, "He won't even look at me. It pisses me off that such a small fact as my father being the "Prince of Darkness" would bother him so much! It's not like I'm my father! One, I'm a girl, two, I'm only half demon, three, the fucker killed my mother, four, Vergil can't sleep with Mundus! So what is the big deal? I'm not my father, so why should it bother him so much?" I finished my rum and coke and set it back down hard on the table.

"You know, you may not be human but you're still a minor," She poor more rum and reached for the coke when I waved it off.

"I'll stick with just the rum," I took my swig then took a bite of cake, "you're a minor too Alice, you're younger than me. Who cares anyway?"

"Vergil doesn't like your drinking habit," She waved a finger and "t'sked". "Besides, you're my elder. You're suppoed to set good examples."

"You make it sound like I'm an alcoholic," She shrugged at my reply, "besides he drinks wine enough for the both of us, so he's a damn hypocrite," I snipped.

Alice grinned sheepishly, "You know, I've always envied you, ever since I met you. You never had to be anything but yourself and it was always enough for him. You could wake up with a mountainous zit in the middle of your forehead and it wouldn't matter to him,"

"Whether that's true or not, I'd prefer to avoid a mountainous zit,"

"Still, don't let his reaction to it all get to you. There's no way, whether he's a hateful and emotionless bastard or not, that he could just let you go because of your heritage, Mundus' daughter or not," Alice for the first time since I'd met her was actually being nice. She was even trying to make me feel better.

"Oh believe me I won't, but I was thinking about leaving for a few days. You know, relax my mind a bit. Honestly, It's been a hell of a week. My mother is dead and I find out that my father is the demon king himself. I don't see myself getting laid any time soon either," I chuckled at the last, "besides, I'm always holed up in this gloomy place, it's time to get out for a bit," I'd considered just going for a drive. A road trip to somewhere peaceful. I just needed to get out. I needed to get away from everything and clear my head. Vergil sure as hell wasn't going to help with that considering the way he was acting.

"Sounds like a plan," She said through a mouth of ice cream, then smiled, "heehee, I'll take care of him for you," She said velvety... or as velvety as a fourteen year old could manage.

"Haha, you can have him for all I care right now. If you can manage to get one kiss from him I'll be very impressed." I laughed. She laughed in reply.

"Like I could, that's like setting me up to lose. The only one he wants to kiss is you!"

"Well now that I'm the Prince of Darkness' daughter, I get the feeling he's plotting my assassination instead of a kiss," I giggled.

"Maybe so, but he'd be so distracted from his feelings you could easily take him down," Alice finished her ice cream and leaned back, rubbing her stomach, "gah, ice cream is the devil's creation,"

"No, this Italian buttercream frosting is temptation given form," I ran my finger along the cake to gather the so wrongly right frosting.

"I hear ya," Alice leaned forward to copy my action, "so where were you planning on heading?"

I'd also considered paying a visit to Dante. After the incident a few days ago I had had the urge to seek him out. To apologize. The more logical side of me told me _Don't go unless you want to look like swiss cheese when you return._ If I were to visit him, I'd have to make sure Ebony and Ivory were unattainable to him.

"I don't really know. Just drive I guess. Road trip, I suppose," I answered honestly.

"If he's at all his normal self, he'd be angry if you left," Alice stated. Why was she trying to make me stay so bad? Did she think that if I knew he'd be angry that I'd stay? Well if that were the case then I would leave just to piss him off.

However with his attitude at the moment, staying would probably irritate him more.

"That's his problem. I rarely get the chance to be at least a little normal. He may not see it this way, but being human can be fun. There is more than world domination and supreme power," I opened the box of cream filled krispy kremes, "For example this beautiful creme filled doughnut," I took a bite.

"When he pulls his head out of his ass and sees you again you're gonna look like one of the hungry hippos," Alice giggled.

"I'm surprised you even know what that game is, being a demon," I retorted, "but he only has himself to blame for making me eat!"

"You've always had a big appetite. At least that's what he told me," Alice shrugged.

"You guys talk about me?"

"It's about the only thing he does seem willing to talk about. I ask him if he wants something and he'll just give me look like he's ready to carve my liver, but the second I ask a question about you, he'll answer. If anything it's about all I do manage to get out of him," She sounded unimpressed.

"What do you say?" I'm not exactly one for being talked about all the time, though it always came naturally with my appearance. I'd always hated that where others had embraced it.

"Like when I ask why we always have so much food he says it's because you eat enough for an army. Or like when I asked how you guys knew each other, he'd sometimes tell a few stories about your guys' past. Like the time the three of you went paint balling and you ganged up on Dante. Or the time you guys went fishing off the coast and Dante wrestled a shark-"

"Haha, Eva was worried sick but Vergil and I just videotaped it, and laughed until we cried. He just dove in the water at seeing that thing. Dante was a bloody mess after messing with that tiger shark. He'd said he'd wanted to make shark fin soup for supper! He was always following his stomach and not his head," I laughed at the memory. A twelve year old devil boy wrestling a ten foot shark! That was the day Eva taught me how to do stitches on the boys. They didn't even bother with doctors, "I remember the time Vergil ate the last piece of pizza and Dante wrestled him. Vergil inevitably won, as to be expected," It was only three days later that my father's devils murdered Eva and Vergil disapeared.

"Sounds like things were never boring," Alice laughed.

"When you practically lived with those two, nothing was ever boring. Not school or anything. They always made it fun somehow. Dante was always coming up with crazy ideas and begging Vergil to help. He's said several times that having a quote, "smart as hell" brother was useful," All the crazy things we did. ... all those sweet memories. Gah, I just wanted them back. I wanted things to be the way they used to be. I wanted to video tape Dante wrestling a shark again. I wanted to watch the to of them fight over the last piece of pizza without stabbing each other in the gut. I wanted it to be without the knoweledge of my father. I wanted to be with Vergil this time around and be best friends with Dante. I wanted it all back only for a change, to have Vergil by my side.

I wanted him to cast away this ambition for supreme power and conquest. I wanted him back.

"But, those days are long gone. It'll never be that way again. I won't get to walk down the aisle and recieve my high school diploma with them either. I won't get to have a big graduation party in Eva's little flowery backyard and eat a cake saying "Congratulations you three" on it. I won't be able to do any of the things that we were all supposed to do. I won't get to watch Vergil play soccer, or watch Dante play basketball. Hell, I won't even be able to go on a real, normal date with Vergil!" I laughed outright at the last. Dante had always told me, that he knew when I was angry beyond angry, when I would begin to laugh at the matter. I was furious! I was so angry!

Angry that I could never go back to a normal life. Angry that Vergil had chosen this dark path. I was angry that I could no longer be friends with Dante. I was irate because my mother was gone! I was consumed with rage that my father was the Demon King! Even angrier that that simple fact was playing on Vergil's feelings towards me! My body was on fire! Flames were licking at me. All the pent up anger and rage that I'd kept buried was flooding rapidly to the surface. I could feel it. ... the pain to come. Damn! It was happening already!

"Sarla, watch it! You're going to lose it!" Alice's terrified exclaim brought to my attention the shadows that were twisting and circling around me, "Just calm down!"

"I can't! It's already starting!" I yelled and doubled over as the pain shot through me. Not again!

"VERGIL!" I screamed the only thing I could. It was the only word I found myself able to say.

I was now hunched over on the floor. The pain in my shoulder blades was searing. They were trying. It was trying to come out! My gums bled from my canines enlarging. I could barely keep my mouth closed with them. The sharp pain in my fingers as my nails lengthened and sharpened. I scratched at the floor.

Pain! So much of it! A blood curdling scream tore from me as the long awaited, excruciationg process took place.

"VERGIL!"

"VERGIL!" Crying now. Tears. I was balling.

"Sarla! Your wings!" Alice stammered.

"IT HURTS, DAMMIT!" I screamed at her, then taking the time to witness the white, gold, and silver feathers that had finally sprouted at the cost of pain. Ugh, it hurt!

"SARLA!" His voice entered the room as the doors burst open. His eyes widened and he teleported in that instant to my side, "what happened?" He demanded, frightened.

"Why? Why did this have to happen? Why me? Why fucking me? I don't want this! Why do I have to be _his_ daughter? He killed her! Mother! He killed Eva! He tore us all apart! I can't! I can't do this! I can't live with this! I can't be his daughter!Just kill me! Kill me before he does! Kill me before I kill someone! I just can't be his daughter! There has to be a mistake! You have to be wrong! Please just say you're wrong! Please, Vergil?" I cried. He pulled me to him and I buried myself in his chest, "Just kill me like you want to," I whimpered but it was muffled against him.

"It's okay," He tried to soothe and I felt his face in my hair and his breathing quickening.

"It hurts, Vergil, just make it stop!" I pleaded pathetically. I managed to meet those stormy pools of blue, which were pained.

He unsheathed yamato and made a thin slice near his throat. The crimson liquid seaped to the surface and began to edge down his body. He didn't really mean to.. , "Hurry up before the wound closes," He commanded.

That sweet smell hit me. He pulled me so that I was now faced with the wound. Reluctantly, I bit down into the soft flesh, escaping a low grunt from him as he winced. The second my tongue touched the cut the blood flowed easily and I lapped at the liquid, taking in as much as I could. It wasn't a metallic taste like blood had always seemed, but a sweet taste. I couldn't think of anything to compare it to, but it was good and I enjoyed it.

"Vergil-" Alice's confusion was mixed with fright.

"In order to stop her from fully transforming, her inner self needs to be suppressed. Though her demon blood would be considered equal or superior to my own, she has not fully embraced that side, making her weaker than me, therefor, my blood can suppress her own. Half demons who are the offspring of high level demons can be consumed by their demon half if they're not careful because of the human half not being strong enough to keep it in check. When this happens, the properties of demon blood go out of control, resulting in a transformation to their inner self and their demonic side. If they are not in control, it is most likely that they will lose all recognition. They won't be able to distinguish friend from foe," Vergil answered Alice all the while being drained by me.

"Because her blood is on my level, it takes a decent amount of my blood in order to suppress,"

"Those wings were painful to her. You don't go through a slow process like that. Your transformations are painless and take only a second, why-"

"She has not fully embraced it. This is only the third time she's done this, and this is the precise reason I asked you to be careful of her. This isn't even her full transformation. Wings, claws, and fangs are nothing compared to what she is, fully transformed. Her inner demon self, is a thousand times stronger, and greater than this. Be thankful I showed up when I did. If I hadn't showed up when I did, she may of fully transformed. You would have died in the process. When she transforms she sends out an energy burst. A shock wave, killing anything in her blast radius,"He kept talking. I know longer listened. I'd heard it all already.

My wings. My fangs. My claws. They were nothing to what could have been released. He of all people knew this. I wanted to pull away. To take myself away from him. I didn't want to take anymore, but it tasted so good...

Warmth was passing through me and I knew it was his blood finding its way to my veins and coursing strongly through me. I didn't want to drain anymore from him. He needed it. I had already drained nearly half of his blood already, but I just couldn't stop. It tasted too good. It felt too amazing. He tried to push me away but I held on, my fangs sinking deeper into his flesh.


	7. Even If He Can't Say It

**I do not own DMC**

...

_Just kill me like you want to!_ Her words had remained engraved in my memory. Such a fool! If only she knew. If only ... I knew.

Knew what ... this ... feeling was. I didn't... understand. I'd buried the human side of me a long time ago. I felt nothing.

But, when I was around her ... gah, I didn't know! It was so ... frustrating! Irritating how one person could do this!

_Just kill me like you want to!_ The little idiot! She had no idea! Did she just assume blindly?

_It hurts Vergil, just make it stop! Please!_ I turned my gaze to the sleeping brunette in my bed. The moon truly was her ally. It illuminated her through the windows, casting silver light over her smooth, tan skin, almost having a shimmering effect. She was curled up delicately and she stirred.

"Vergil," She uttered my name so softly and low. She curled up tighter and rubbed her face into the pillow before falling silent and still once again.

_It hurts Vergil..._

"I know," I leaned over and without thinking, brushed the strand of hair out of her face, leaving her portrait vulnerable for me to see.

Whatever it was that made me feel things...

All I knew, was that even I admired her beauty in that moment. Even I was able to bring myself to see, that she was the most beautiful creature I'd laid my eyes on in that moment. The strange feeling was back, pressuring my chest.

_This is just lust._ I told myself. ..._ A demon emotion._

...

_My vision kept dimming and I could feel the blood pooling at the surface of my wounds. Something told me I needed to get out of here. What if there were more of them? In my pathetic and pitiful condition, I wouldn't survive against another brutal attack from those lowlife sons of bitches._

_My anger began to surge, giving me some unknown power. Enough to begin my crawl over the wet pavement. The rain continued to pour, limiting my already limited sight. I kept on though, dragging my beaten body over the wet ground, water running down my face, taking the place of the tears that I had held back._

_I was in agony._

_The only thing that I could possibly believe was keeping me alive was the hatred and the need for vengeance that I harbored for my abusers. I had defeated a few only to be caught off guard, which begged the question._

_Who had taken care of the rest? I had heard the yelps and painful screams of my assailers, and I had been given a moment of relief once the beating had ceased for that period of time._

_Only to be left alone in my own blood. Cold rain beating my wretched body. As if I didn't have enough weight to carry, I didn't need any pressure being put on my body. I looked out into the rain to get a view as to where I was heading, only for a boot to stomp into my view, sending a slight disturbance in the puddle of water into my face. I tried to lift my head, in what was no doubt an insignificant action. So ineffectual were my efforts to sustain some dignity in my contemptible state._

_I hated myself._

_More than anything I hated this boot in my face, for all it proved was what I viewed myself as in this dark hour. The slight incline I had given my head helped get a better view of my witness. With my terrible vision, all I could see was the blurry figure of a man in a long blue coat. His hair looked as though it fell over his face in the white, silver strands. At his side in his left hand he held some object. Some threatening weapon that resembled a sword from what I could tell._

_He didn't say anything….. and he didn't need to._

_My vision was fading to black, and my body was going numb. So what ever it was he intended to do to me, I would not see, nor would I feel, and the way things were going, I would not taste, hear, or even smell his intentions._

_I heard his breath at my ear and felt its chill before I lost consciousness._

_Dante? No._

_... Vergil. _

I woke in Vergil's room. It was night already and the moon sent rays of soft blue through the window, outlining the figure gawking out it in white and silver light, lighting him up like the heavens. If I had ever refered to him as an angel before, this was a whole new meaning. I was waiting for him to sprout white, feathered wings at any moment.

"I wouldn't move if I were you," He didn't look at me, but those emotionless words were directed towards me. I didn't know what he meant until I felt the horrid pain in my shoulder blades sear through me.

"Gah, why can't I just transform like you do? Why do I go through some slow process? It hurts!" I whined. The man in my dream who had been blurred then, was definately not blurred now. No. I could see him all too clearly.

He finally turned to face me and his face was grave. Those orbs of cold ice were so painful it almost hurt me as well. What was causing him pain? What was eating at him? Was it me? No, not even I could do that to him.

"I was dreaming ... of when you found me," I admited outright. It was weighing on my mind afterall. His brows creased and he looked puzzled.

"You were a bloody, incoherrent mess," Vergil said, "You kept slipping in and out of consciousness,"

"Incoherrent?"

"You kept trying to talk. You'd say Dante's, my mother's, and my name repeatedly. You kept saying to run when I was carrying you that night,"

I let out a breath, "I don't really remember that night. Every now and then, bits and pieces will click, and fit into my mind and I'll remember a part, but for the most part, I don't remember,"

Neither of us said a word for what seemd like ages, and he turned back to gaze out the window. He hung his head and I could see his eyes narrow as if he were irritated by something, "Do you really think I want to kill you?" He said.

Was that what had been bothering him so much? What I had said? Did it really matter what I said?

"You've avoided me for over three days and everytime I do see you, you look at me as if you're going to pull Yamato at any moment. I can only assume it's because of my father," I answered angrily. He caught it too.

"I was more angry at myself for not knowing," He said, looking up at the sky outside, "I know now that I wasn't angry with you so much as I was angry at your heritage. It just made sense to be angry with you though,"

"Yes, well your "sense" is a little off," I retorted with acid. I forced myself to move to the side of the bed and swing my legs over to get to my feet.

"Get back in bed," He commanded.

"No,"

"Sarla," He warned.

"Don't, "Sarla" me! I'm sure you can understand that I'm tremendously angry with you right now! All this time I was afraid you were actually considering the option of killing me because of who my father is. Even now, I feel like you hate me for some reason! Am I not desirable now that you know my father is the "Prince of Darkness" the almighty Mundus?" I exploded, forcing myself up on my feet and doubled over when the pain got the better of me.

"What did I tell you?"

"SHUTUP! Don't talk down to me!" I screamed more at the pain than at him.

"Well someone needs to seeing as how you don't know your place,"

"My place?" I looked at him with incredulous eyes.

"Yes, as the sick person your place is in bed, and as the healthy Master it is my job to make sure my slave is taken well care of," He was at my side in an instant, placing a hand on my shoulder and forcing me to look at him with his other hand.

"I told you that I don't like being called "slave". I'm the Master here," He grinned with chagrin at my words.

"It is not because you're not desirable," His grin widened and there was a guilty glint in those almost silvery eyes now, "It's definately not because of that,"

"Then what is your problem?" I demanded.

He was serious again as he said, "I was ... I really don't know. No matter how I look at it I can't seem to figure out what I was ... feeling," Oh shit.

He wasn't playing fair.

"Are you- Are you wearing cologne?" It was totally off base, but I couldn't help but take in the aroma of pure masculinity. The smell that was his, and then intensified by some wrongly-right cologne that was so not fair to my hormones. He looked at me funny.

"Out of all that, you caught that I'm wearing cologne?" He sighed and hung his head.

"As mature as I may appear and act, I am a teenager," I confessed.

"That aside, did you catch anything I said?"

"Something about not knowing what you were feeling," I smiled sheepishly.

"Right," He paused, "And I don't know what to do about that. I don't like talking like this so bear with me. I don't even know how to talk like this, but... I'm doing this for your sake. ...because I know you ... well you- you just like to know how I'm feeling or what's on my mind, and I suppose that you're inclined to know," He fumbled with this. He really didn't know. He was so confused it was driving him insane. He was not acting like the Vergil I knew.

"Well, you said that you've had feelings for me since we were young. Let's start there. What kind of feelings?" I was hoping he would maybe start to identify what he was feeling. It was a start, I suppose.

"What does that have to do with this?"

"It has everything to do with this. You can't even identify your emotions. He describe them but you still can't identify them. You can identify them in other people, but where you're concerned you seem emotionally constipated to the point you don't even know what you're feeling. Even if you hate your human emotions, it would seem that you need to at least know them otherwise things end up like this," I swept my hand over my body in emphasis.

He turned away and I forced him to look back at me, "It's not that simple. I don't want to know. I don't want my emotions. They only get in the way," He retorted coldly, "The only reason I'm even trying to talk to you like this is because I know you want me to. You want to know what's on my mind and how I feel about things but the truth is I don't feel. That's why it confuses me to no end when you are around and something does start surfacing and I can't name it," As deep as the conversation was getting, he still didn't give in. He still had that detached expression. That aloofness still surrounded him. What was the most stubborn was that barrier surrounding his core.

"I thought we already established that it was your feelings for me," I recalled the image of him hovering over me only a week ago and telling me he'd felt that way since childhood.

"I just assumed. I don't know. Humans always say you're in love when you feel strongly and affectionate towards someone. I don't know. I'm just assuming because I do like your presence and always have. I like having you around," He was so nonchalant.

"Well, yeah, but you can feel strongly without loving someone, so basically you need to figure out just how far you'd go for me,"

"Do you have to ask?" He answered with a question and I couldnt help myself. I leaned into him and kissed him softly on the lips. He responded immediately and it quickly climbed. His arms came around me gently and pulled me closer. My hands came to his face and I held it, ignoring the pain in my shoulders from the movement.

"This isn't like you," I whispered against him but he pulled my lips back to his. The passion flew out of us and I totally ignored my pain as I pulled him down with me so that he hovered over my body. His touch almost seemed to relax my aching muscles but I knew it was because I was simply not thinking about it. When his slowly becoming fiercer hand began to run up my leg and grab my outer thigh, I surrendered entirely. I gave in.

"Whether he's your father or not, it's not going to stop me from doing this," He pulled back and looked at me for a moment, grinned naughtily, then descended back down.

"Even if you can't say it, and I'm not too keen on saying it, I'll say it for you," I stopped him this time, "I love you, Vergil,"

"Shutup," He smirked and silenced me again.

Whether he could say it or not, I knew what it was. I knew what he would say if he could. He didn't have to say it now, hell, he didn't have to say it ever. As corny and cheesy at it sounded, as long as he stayed by me, I didn't care if he didn't ever say it, whether it would be nice or not.

Because I loved him.


	8. Vomiting and Taco Bell

**I do not own DMC**

...

The next month ... I guess I should have seen it coming. All that time had passed in what seemed the time it took to bat a lash.

Every night was bliss for me, and for Vergil, whether he realized it or not. The whole matter of my father being Mundus still lingered in the atmosphere but it might as well have evaporated all together. We paid no mind to it ... mostly.

Although, when it did make its way to the forefront of our minds, it was a brief telepathic moment where we just knew the other was thinking of it as well, therefore there was no need to mention. What was coming though, was something I should have seen coming. I had to be blind for the possibility to not cross my mind, or just plain stupid.

...The shittiest day ever...

"I don't think I feel so good," I groaned. That uneasy feeling in my stomach was enough to make me want to hurl.

...wait

MAKE WAY! I flew off the couch we'd been resting on and tore for the bathroom off the bedroom. There was no hesitation; the lovely taste of Chinese food and stomach fluids stained the roof of my mouth and tongue.

How attractive.

"What's wrong?" Vergil's naturally dull and cool voice called from the room. We'd been reading as usual. It wasn't like there was much on TV anyway. Besides, Vergil didn't seem interested in television anymore ... or anything human for that matter.

"No, I think my stomach just did a saumersault," I gagged and jumped when two cold hands pulled my hair from out of my face.

"You were like this yesterday too. I told you to stay in bed and recover," I looked back at him. He wasn't dressed like normal. I'd finally convinced him to buy some more common clothes. Like for instance, the blue ringer tee and stone washed jeans that he was wearing right now. I said it was for the sake of him not standing out so much whenever he accompanied me in town, and also, well, he just looked scrumptious in normal clothes like that.

"I told you, sickness is a weakness, and I refuse to let it keep me down," I argued.

"Well, if you ask me, I'd say it's the food in your stomach you need to keep down," I could hear him smile, if that was possible, "besides, I don't find holding your hair while you vomit some ungodly smelling bile from you very exciting, or attractive for that matter. Especially with what and how much you eat, I'm not surprised,"

"I just want it to go away," I pleaded more towards my body than him.

"Precisely why you need to return to bed," His hand came down to pull back a loose chunk of hair and place it behind my ears gently.

"Whatever, you win," My body convulged when another episode expelled more of the foul, half digested Chinese.

"Naturally," He slipped the pony tail holder off my arm and ran his fingers through my hair before tying it up.

"Thanks," I said mid gag.

"I suggest you take a shower first,"

"Perhaps this isn't the time to be asking this, but, can we grab some Taco Bell?" I humbly tilted my head in his direction to see a perplexed Vergil staring me back as if to say_, "Are you crazy?" _

"You're here vomiting and all you can think about is ordering more food?" He sounded as surprised as he could manage. With his emotion scale of 0-0 or possibly 0-1 on a good day, his expressionless face was as close as it was going to get.

"You probably think I'm bulimic, but all this food leaving me is making me even hungrier than before," I whined with a smile.

"And then you'll puke even more than now," His eyes narrowed, "It'll just be a viscious circle,"

"But I'm hungry,"

"How about soup," He wasn't so much asking me as he was telling me.

"Bleh, you know I hate soup, unless it's miso or some form of ramen," I complained, "Besides, I want some Mexican food. Like a quesidilla. Oh, chicken at that," Oh, all the delightful images were coming to mind and I could feel the saliva in my mouth increase just thinking about it.

"I'm starting to wonder if you're pregnant,"

We both fell silent then. He'd meant it as a joke, I was sure, but the idea still threatened. When my eyes locked on his there was a silent exchange.

_Vomiting= Morning sickness. Wanting more food in strange cravings= Strange cravings. _

Ohmygod, Ohmygod, Ohmygod. No!

"It was meant as a joke, don't take it so seriously," He finally said, but he couldn't fool me. I knew the theory was still pressing at the front of his mind. He was considering it and that uneasy feeling wasn't subsiding.

"Right," I breathed with that same uneasiness.

"Turn your head back to the toilet until you're sure you're finished," He tried to steer the conversation elsewhere, "I don't particularly enjoy vomit on my clothes," He acted as though I'd already hurled on him.

"Oh, relax, would you? Oh, I just thought of something," Oh my god, maybe I was prego if I was thinking this, "How about some birthday cake ice cream!"

"You're pregnant," He waltsed away.

"I am not! I know we don't use protection but we're careful where timing is," I protested. He returned wearing the black leather jacket I'd bought him. It was nostalgic looking at him like this. I remembered when he used to dress like any normal teenager. He and Dante had been sought after by many girls at our school but they had always lost to me in the end. The boys never took interest in any other girls because they always preferred being around me. I was a lot more "fun" as they had put it. I wasn't a "priss" as Dante had said. Vergil just alienated everyone so girls just looked at him from afar.

"Well, I will say your breasts have gotten bigger than they already are. I just waved it off," Of course he would notice that over cravings and puking. Vergil was after all, a man, a boob man at that. ... Let's just say he was preoccupied with my breasts.

Not that I could blame him, not bragging, but I was proud of my C cups.

"Fine, buy a pregnancy test while you're out if you're so paranoid," I caved. What could it hurt? I looked at him again and smiled, "Aren't you glad we bought you some ... normal clothes?"

"I prefer my other ones," I heard the grudge in his tone.

"Well, we can't walk around the city when you look like you belong at some cosplay convention. As lovely as your wardrobe is, it looks like a costume to other people," That didn't seem to lighten him up, "Besides, your butt looks amazing in those jeans. You might need to leave before I pull you to bed," That did the trick.

"Taco bell, happy birthday ice cream, and a pregnancy test? Why do I feel like such a human?" Of course he would find something else to sulk over.

"Because you absolutely adore me and want to do everything you can to ensure my happiness and well being," I tried to come off as innocent as possible but that was just down right impossible for me to do, "Also you've never done the shopping before,"

"Can't I just send Alice?"

"I suppose, if you want to trust her with it all,"

"I'll go," He said abruptly and lifted me up princess style and laid me on the bed, "I don't think I should kiss you,"

"Well, I think you're full of shit," I pulled him down for one good long kiss before releasing him from the prison of my vomity mouth.

"Brush your teeth before I return," I followed him with my eyes as he strutted regally over to the window, opening it, and then doing a front flip out of it.

Sometimes, watching him was just too much.

...

Alice had finally come to keep me company, though I was asleep. When I awoke she had already taken the liberty of setting up the alcohol and food.

Alcohol. Tempting, but ...

I didn't know if I was pregnant, and as much as I tried to deny it, it was still probably best to refrain.

"I can't drink, Alice," I yawned and sat upright.

"Don't tell me you'v signed up for AA or something," She laughed at my honest statement. She began to pour the second glass.

"Really Alice, I can't," I forced her eyes to meet mine and the theory flowing through my head must have been conveyed through our staring.

"Oh shit, you're prego aren't you?" She gasped.

"Still waiting to find out," I slouched. What was I to do? What did I do if I had a kid with Vergil? Literally, what was I to do? I still had training and other things I needed to do. I couldnt just drop eveything now, could I? The child themself would have problems to deal with. No doubt if knowledge of their existance were to be revealed, everyone would come in search of the descendent of both Sparda and Mundus. A person who carried within them, the extraordinary power of the Devil King and the Dark Knight, would be hunted. There would be no peace for them.

What of Vergil? He hadn't exactly stated his opinion on this. I didn't know if he wanted a child! Being Vergil, he probably would be apathetic towards the situation, but still.

"What do you mean waitng?"

"Are you done vomiting yet?" Vergil entered. If I hadn't of known better I'd have said he looked like the average guy coming home to his girlfriend with supper. However, I did know better so it made it even better since I knew seeing him looking so human wouldn't happen very often. I was surprised he'd even dressed this way this morning.

"For the most part. I did brush my teeth so I think you should hurry up and greet me properly," I gave a big cheese grin. He kissed me tenderly before pulling away. When I opened my eyes, his hand was in my face with a pregnancy test.

"Do this before you eat anything. I know how absent minded you get when you eat," He ordered. I hesitated before taking it. I just stared at it before I saw Alice's eyes begging to know. Sighing, I rose and closed the bathroom door behind me.

Now, normally I would have been calm in a situation such as this, or so I always told myself, but as my fingers fumbled with the thermometer looking object, my heart was quickly picking up pace. I felt the cold sweat running down my back and my hands were near trembling. The four agonizing minutes spent waiting finally gave me my answer. I felt the tears welling in my eyes. I couldn't decide whether they were tears of joy, but when I stepped out of the bathroom to Vergil's anxious expression waiting on the couch, I felt as though I could collapse. He whipped around instantly and stood up within that same moment.

"Sarla?" Alice's concern only increased my trembling.

My gaze never looked away from his, even when the tears finally fell over the rims of my eyes and spilled down my cheeks.

"I'm pregnant," I breathed.

**I know, not the best, but oh well. I liked this chapter. Please Review! Thnx for reading!**


	9. ATTENTION! PREVIEW!

**This is a little something that won't be appearing until much later. Like I'm talking many chapters from now. It takes place after Nero defeats Sanctus and Sarla decides to take the Yamato back because she feels Nero is not strong enough to handle it. Plz Review. Thnx for reading this story up until now. I have a ways to go before I get to his part of the fic.**

"Well, it appears you found him," An all too familiar voice interrupted us the same moment an enormous broadsword blocked my swing instead of Yamato.

"Dante," I greeted with a smirk.

An amused grin pulled his lips, "I didn't think you'd have this much trouble. Has old age left you rusty?"

"You don't possibly believe you should be the main event now, do you?" I scoffed.

"You know you sound like someone else I know. He said those exact same words to me. Granted, he was referring to someone else though, when he said that," I wasn't quite sure what he meant by that, but I could only think that it was Vergil he was speaking of. The odd light in his eyes confirmed it.

I didn't really try to say anything, and Nero didn't try to make a go at me either.

"Look, kid, you got no chance against her. She's on an entirely different level from you. A swordsman trained by your father is way out of your league," Dante turned his attention to the labored Nero, who I realized was also being blocked by Rebellion. The ghostly figure of Vergil's devil trigger lent its strength. I could already tell Dante was struggling to hold him back, let alone both of us.

"What do you mean? I don't even know my father, so how could you?" I took the opportunity to launch myself backward from lock of blades, releasing some of the strain put on Dante.

"You could say I knew him," Dante scoffed, "One of the few," He added, "Aside from this lovely lady," He smiled at me.

"This boy is not worthy of Yamato, Dante. I don't know what you were thinking, giving him such a powerful devil arm. A blade of a son of Sparda," I scolded. Even if Nero was my son, I could not allow this. He was not ready to wield his father's blade. The shadow of Vergil's inner devil standing over Nero, was proof enough of that.

"What do you know of it, you bitch!" Nero snapped.

Bitch? Did my son seriously just call me a bitch? Whether he knew I was his mother or not, and whether I hadn't been a mother to him didn't matter. How dare the punk call me a bitch!

"You little punk! You're nothing but a novice! If anyone is worthy of Yamato, it's either Dante or myself!"

"Sarla, I told you it would stay in the family!" Dante turned on me, and our eyes widened when his words registered in our heads. Damn that Dante, he never could keep a fucking secret!

"I don't care! Am I not part of the family too? It may not have been legal but my relationship with him should have been proof enough of my status within your family! Wouldn't you say bearing his son, your nephew at that, is enough to be considered your family?" Dammit! I'd gone too far as well! If Nero found out I was his mother...

... But then did it really matter? He was old enough. He could fight devils, therefor protect himself. He'd defeated Sanctus a year ago, Dante had just stood on the sidelines.

I wanted, Nero to know ...

...But how would he react? He would surely hate me. He had to. I abandoned him. I'd left him alone, even erased and manipulated his memories of me.

"Hey, why don't you answer a few questions here!" Nero hadn't relented. He still held Dante in a draw between their swords, "If you know my father, then shouldn't you have known me? And what do you mean stay in the family? I'd asked you before if it was really okay for me to keep it! And would you two establish your relationship with each other so that I know!" He demanded. Perhaps he did take my temper, like Dante had said.

"You definately inherited that temper from you mother. You may look like your father, but you act just like your mother. Or how she used to, anyway," Dante looked almost fond of Nero. He was right, Nero was an almost exact replica of Vergil when he was that age. It was an uncanny resemblance. However, where he inherited Vergil's good looks ... very good looks, he had inherited personality it seemed, from me.

"So what you know my mother too? Why don't you just spit it out?" He pulled his lips back to reveal gritted teeth.

"Sarla here, is my brother, Vergil's, lover? Does that sound good, Sarla? Anyway, she was also his first and only apprentice. She also gave birth to his son-"

"You said she was my father's apprentice!" Nero interrupted, but he looked like he was about to fall backward when he realized what he'd said, "You?" I could hear the need to cry coming from his throat, "You're my... my-"

"Yes, she's your mother. Surprising right? You look nothing like her," Dante finally just spilled it all. His nonchalance though, was almost gut clenching.

Nero merely stared at me like I'd run over his puppy. I could only stare back, with what was no doubt on of the coldest gazes he'd ever seen. I turned my head away, trying not to look into the blue orbs that he'd inherited from his father. If I looked at those eyes, I would only lose face.

"What does it matter? To you I'm just a stranger, aren't I? Don't go getting upset over something you never knew or ever had to lose in the first place," I said indifferently. How many years had it been? Eighteen years? Really? Eighteen years since I had given birth to my one and only child. My son, who stood right before my eyes, was born almost eighteen years ago, and I couldn't even allow myself the simple joy of having met him again after sixteen years of separation.

I couldn't enjoy because I couldn't keep it. I couldn't stay by him now that he knew. He would only shun me, turn me away in disgust. Could I blame him? I would be disgusted, surely, if my mother had given me away like I had given him to The Order.

"What are you, just some big block of ice?" I hung my head, the overpowering weight of everyone's emotions was proving too much. Nero's aura was just a huge blur. I couldn't get a real read on it, "If you're my mother, then I think it matters!"

Those words.

Coming from his mouth.

...They...

... Made me feel

...happy. Even if he'd spoken out of anger. I mattered, to him. In some way, maybe not positively, I mattered to him.

"All I've ever dreamed of," Nero paused, I heard the deep breath he took, "was if a day occured, where I would be able to meet my parents,"

There was a long silence before I sighed, looked to him, and then realized the tears I'd been holding for so many years were brimming over, "Well," I attempted t stiffle the onslaught of tears, "You've met one parent,"


	10. Maybe Something Will Happen

**Thank you for continuing to read this fic for as long as you have. It makes me happy to know someone actually enjoys my writing. Anyway, Please Review, it's much appreciated. This chpt is a bit sloppy but please enjoy! Thnx!**

Vergil couldn't move. I took the cake for shock factor. I was waiting for his eyes to just pop out of the socket.

"Sarla," Alice started but couldn't seem to think of anything else.

"Well, best not get too emotional. Where's that Taco Bell Vergil? You get my quisedilla?" I quickly composed myself... as best I could, which probably wasn't very well. I forced an unconvincing smile and wiped away the tears. I saw the taco bell bag laying on the coffee table in front of the couch. When I reached for it, Vergil's rough hand clasped itself around my wrist in an almost angry fashion.

"You're just going to walk in, tell me you're pregnant with tears in your eyes, then all of a sudden shrug it off? I think we deserve more than that," His perplexed surprise was revealed through his eyes.

"What more is there to say, or do? I'm pregnant, so I need to answer to my cravings," I retorted bitterly. What exactly was I supposed to say? Vergil wasn't the person you just started talking about children with. I didn't think it was even possible. He wasn't exactly one for talking about anything. We'd already established that about a month ago.

"I don't know, but I was expecting you would react differently from this," The grip he had on my wrist eased slightly, but he was reluctant to let go. I could feel the tension rising in his body. He was every bit confused as I was. He had no clue what to do, or say.

"It's not a big deal. I'm pregnant, so lets feed myself and the little guy," Unfortunately no matter how hard I tried, those pesky tears were beginning to well again.

"If it's not a big deal, then stop crying!" Since he didn't know how else to react, he was angry. Ever since I'd begun to try and label his emotions with him, anger was the only one we'd gotten to. Jealousy came after that, but that just fell in with anger. Either way, he was reacting angrily and I didn't like it.

"I'm not crying!" I yelled, but my voice cracked with the outburst of my tears and coughing.

"Yes you are, you fool!" He pulled me down on the couch and pinned me, "Now, tell me what you're really thinking! Don't just wave this off! I don't know how I'm supposed to react to this, so you need to tell me! What do you want?" The steel trap of his hands wrapped around my wrists hurt, and I winced in pain.

"Ow, you're hurting me, Vergil!"

"Then tell me what you want!"

"I don't know, dammit! It's not like I can just give up a baby who's a half demon for adoption! And I can't go get an abortion with a human doctor, whether they know devils exist or not!" I exploded. He was pushing my buttons, and he should have known not to do that! I could already feel the change in my blood. If he kept pushing me the wrong way, disaster was going to strike. Particularly on his balls!

"So you want to keep it?" He toned it down but he was making his inner turmoil flagrantly visible with his eyes. He may not have had a conscious, or emotions for that matter, but I could tell just by his eyes, that he was terrified. Whether he knew it or not, he was absolutely terrified.

"I have to. What else can I do?" I sobbed.

"This is what you want, then?" He repeated.

"This is what I want,"

He looked me over once, twice, three times, before finally relenting, and releasing me. I didn't know whether to be angry at him or scared of him. Not very often, did he lash out that way. I knew it was because of his own fear, but being around Vergil when he was like this, made me feel uncomfortable. Not the _oh he's seen me naked _uncomfortable, but the_ I don't know what he's going to do. Is he going to kill someone?_ uncomfortable.

Perhaps I was thinking too much into it, but either way, I was scared.

"I have to go. Eat then go back to sleep. No drinking obviously," He rose and turned to leave.

"What? I don't get a proper farewell?" I scolded.

He didn't give me some hungry smirk, or quirk of his brows. He didn't say some sarcastic remark or surprise me with his teleportation skills. He stayed silent and turned back to me, leaned over me and kissed me. He bruised my iips against his and I was caught offguard. I'd expected him to just kiss me briefly as if he didn't want to, but it felt like he was trying to take a piece of me with him. When he inserted his tongue and explored my mouth more, I knew he was scared. How else was he to release such pent up fear? He never kissed me like this unless we were both in the mood.

"Eat the ice cream before it melts further," He was already at the door before my mind could even really register that we'd stopped kissing. As scary as the kiss had been, I really wished we could have continued.

"Okay," I murmured, watching his broad back clad in that leather jacket dissapear around the door.

What was I going to do, now? At this rate, Vergil and I would never last. Obstacles just kept plowing their way into our affairs. A child was not what I really wanted at this time in my life. Perhaps it was a cruel to view my own child as a burden, but at this time in my life? How could I do this? I remembered telling my mother over and over that I wouldn't allow myself to get pregnant as a teenager.

It's just like every other teen, you say it won't happen to you because you'll use protection take birth control, whatever it is, you won't allow it to happen. Then next thing you know, you're puking your guts up in a toilet, and thinking about Taco Bell and ice cream!

Although I do like quesadillas whether I was pregnant or not.

"Sarla, are you really okay?" Alice sunk down onto the couch beside me and I put a bit of distance between us. I was never one for being close to others. Unless that person was Vergil or Dante for that matter. That was because I was comfortable with them though ... and I was fucking Vergil as of late obviously seeing as how I was prego with his child.

Any child of Vergil had to be evil. It made me think of on Grey's Anatomy when they called the one guy "Evil Spawn". Would that be my kid?

The upbringing? Would I raise some power hungry freak like his/her father? What would it look like?

It? Was I referring to my future child as an "it"? Well if it was a combination of Vergil and I then it was bound to be an "It". Technically it would be seeing as how it was to be neither human or demon but a halfbreed. Halfbreeds were "it"s, as we did not belong to a race. We were a species all of our own.

In the end I still had no clue as what I could possibly do. Or what I should do for that matter.

"I don't know anymore, Alice," All the weight of the world seemed to come crashing down as I hung my head into my hands, "Do things ever go my way anymore?"

"So you really don't want to have the thing," How lovely. "The thing". I didn't know if "it" or "thing" was a nicer way of putting it. Then again, this was Alice talking so what was I expecting? She wasn't exactly known for her manners or couthe. She had no filter was probably a better way of looking at it. However in the moment, I could only laugh at her crude words.

"Naturally I don't want to have a kid at this time in my life but I could never just give away my child, especially Vergil's child," I rubbed my temples theraputically. I scoffed, "This is the shittiest day ever. I can't even recall a time I felt this shitty," Instantly after saying that, I remembered only a month and half ago. No. This came second to finding my mother lying lifeless in her own blood after having suffered her injuries for who knew how long. Then the following days to come I had come to find my father, who not only ordered my mother's death, but was also the Demon King himself, and Vergil's goal target.

Yeah, this day definately came second to that.

"I wish I had something to say, but I'm still only fourteen, whether I'm a devil or not, I know nothing about these kinds of things,"

"It's fine, I don't expect you to say anything. You're too young to have any experience with it. Unlike me, you're actually a fullblooded demon, and you were raised as such. To devils, reproducing is just a second nature. You could get pregnant and it wouldn't matter to you or anyone. I was raised as a human. I lived as a human and worried about human things like getting pregnant really young. Perhaps the circumstances of my pregnancy are a little different from normal humans, and it's not like I won't be able to support it and give it things, it's just that I don't feel I'm ready for it. This is just not a time in my life where I can really handle something like that. I may live an adult life but I am still just a teenager. Kids were not part of my plan for some time. I only just turned eighteen two months ago," It wasn't like I expected words of support from Alice. I knew her well enough, but still, I wish I could hear something. I needed advice more than anything.

_Mom! Why can't you just be here? _My mind cried. I wanted my mom more than anything now. I wanted to run to her and feel her soft, gentle arms around me, and hear her kind, angel voice tell me it was going to be okay. If I had the knowledge needed to perform a resurrection, I would definately do so to her. Then again, Vergil had already told me it wouldn't work. She wouldn't be my mother. It would only be an empty shell.

Either way, I still yearned to hear her voice again.

"Sarla, maybe right now isn't exactly a time to say this, but I envy you. Not just in the sense that I wish I could carry Vergil's child, but I envy your strength. What is that saying you humans have, "Everything happens for a reason"? Obviously something is going to happen. Whether we know it's good or not, something is going to happen. You will be a part of it. You are going to give birth to grandchild of the both the Dark Knight and the Demon King himself. You will give birth to the union of the two bloodlines that have held grudge for over two thousand years. I would be honored to carry a child of such lineage and promise. Perhaps that is just the demon that I am; wanting to give birth to the strongest offspring, but if you think about it... it's maternal instinct both humans and devils have. Whether devil or human, a mother is proud to give birth to their child. A mother is proud _of_ _her_ child." Though I hadn't expected words of wisdom at this dark time, especially not from Alice, she surprised me beyond anything. She was fourteen but to say something so deep as that, I was touched. Maybe what she said was just off the top of her head, I didn't know, but it came from her opinion and heart, and that was something that touched me.

It was something that made me think. After thinking I was alone, looking at Alice's placid face, knowing there was something more beneath, a something that was on my side, I was filled with a form of warmth. Maybe I wasn't alone, like I thought.

Maybe, something would happen, as she said. Whether it was good or bad, something big would happen from this, and I would be a part of it.

Just maybe, I was underestimating Alice.

And ... just maybe...

...I could have this child.


	11. They have good Stawberry sundaes, Too

**I know this chpt is fairly short and kind of rough but I like what it ends up triggering. So plz enjoy and you comments are most appreciated. Plz review. Thank you and enjoy. =)**

The red neon glow from the shop sign ended my search. The outline of a figure of red light, aiming a gun also confirmed that Dante's taste was present. Or, in his case, lack of taste. Though he had a logo, there was no name, which puzzled me but I waved it off.

I wasn't quite sure if what I was doing was the _right_ thing to do, but I needed someone. After what I'd done to him over 2 months ago, I didn't feel very welcome, or right about this. I didn't deserve his time, and it was purely selfish of me, but... I had no one.

"Didn't expect to find you around here," I whipped around and was met with silvery eyes. Dante stood a mere three feet or so from me and was drenched in ink black blood. He held Rebellion, slung behind his head and resting on a shoulder.

"What happened?" I looked at him with what must have been horror because when he smiled, it was almost malicious.

"Some stupid human summoned a Lord. Malfax, I think his name was? The slimy bastard exploded after I hit his core, covering me in this..." He lifted up his arms and looked himself over before exclaiming in disgust, "...shit!"

"It smells horrible," I scrunched my face, "God, what kind of demon is he? He smells like roadkill and port-o-potties,"

"Are you trying to say I smell?" Irritation rolled off his tongue.

"Well, no, but I suppose you do," It wasn't exactly what I meant, but who could deny that he smelled like shit?

"What are you here for? Snap my neck again? Oh, yeah and thanks for the money, I was able to buy some time on paying the full rent," The irritation wasn't just an undertone, it was more of a _Now that I think about it... uh, you're a bitch_ tone. Who could blame him, that had been a bitch move then, but I'd needed to get out of there quickly. It wasn't like I hadn't felt guilty afterwards... or right now for that matter.

"I'm pregnant," Word vomit, anyone? Pressure had just built up out of nowhere, and the sudden urge to just let it out had overtaken me. Now all was left was to see what he'd say, which terrified me.

"Funny. You know, you only tried that on me a dozen times when we were together. A joke like that gets old after awhile, babe-"

"I'm serious," I said straightfaced, not allowing my tone or voice to waver. I didn't know why I came to him now. So what if I was alone? Telling Dante was probably the worst thing I could possibly do. Especially to him. I realized now that it would probably only hurt him knowing the child wouldn't be his, but his twin brother's.

I truly was a selfish girl.

"It's Vergil's then, isn't it? I was gonna say, that blonde, Alice, I think you called her, couldn't have been the father. If so, then I'm amazed what surgery can do," Even in such a situation, he could still joke, but the bitter grudge hiding beneath the surface was all too visible in his aura.

Sometimes being able to read an aura as I could, really gave you answers you didn't want to know. Like for instance, when someone lied to make you feel better, you could tell immediately it was a lie and thus, that forged comfort was wasted. So even if Dante was joking, I already knew he was seething with anger and a whole lot of jealousy.

"I'm... sorry. I shouldn't have come. I'm stupid! Why the hell did I think I should tell you?" Guilt and a whole mix of ugly emotions were starting to overrule, and I found myself holding back tears.

God, would I ever quit crying? Crying was weakness and I could not afford weakness.

"Because you have no one there. You can claim you have Vergil but one person, your lover, isn't all you need. You were raised human, Sarla, and you'll always be human in your heart to an extent. Humans need relationships with people other than their boyfriend or girlfriend. They need their friends," He took a deep breath, "I guess Tami isn't here anymore for you. It's only natural you'd come crawling back to me," He placed Rebellion back in place behind his back and came closer.

"I might be willng to listen... for a kiss," He grinned wolfishly and pointed to his lips, "Lay 'em right here,"

"You know I can't do that," I blanked.

"Sure you can, you did it to me with Vergil,"

"We weren't dating, so technically I didn't cheat," I corrected, much to his annoyance.

"Well you were supposed to wait dotingly until I returned someday then we would get it on and then after a month or so when I would leave again, you would confess to me that you were pregnant with MY child," It was like him to be a smartass, but so NOT like him to make up scenarios like that.

Well, maybe it was. When he was trying to get a point across, anyway.

"Yes, well, YOU didn't return. Your brother DID. Anyway, there is no way to describe how I feel. He just... I feel peaceful, safe ...and he may be a cold bastard but I know he loves me, if he loves at all. He doesn't have emotions or a consience for all I know, but-"

"I'll listen to your pregnancy problems, but I'd appreciate it if you didn't talk about your feelings toward my brother. Just because I understand, doesn't neccessarily mean I like it or want to hear it," Dante snapped with a snarl on his lips. I could see slight points on his canines and realized that Vergil wasn't the only one who had awakened their inner devil. Judging by his smell and aura though, he didn't seem fully awakened.

Slowly, as he calmed, those points retracted to normal.

"I'm sorry. I understand," I whispered.

"No, don't be, he is your boyfriend, only natural," I didn't know if I liked him being calm about or if I'd rather he yelled at me. He was trying to be mature, but didn't I deserve to be yelled at? If Dante couldn't tell me exactly what he was feeling, I wouldn't be able to feel comfortable telling him these things. I wanted honesty. In addition I didn't want him to feel he had to bottle it all up, "I knew when I saw you guys that one time that you were lying about being together. If you felt it was to keep me from being hurt, it was stupid,"

"How did you know?"

"You didn't smell like a virgin anymore," His eyes darted to and fixated on me almost menacingly, "Did you forget I can smell better than humans?" He was talking to me, but it was empty. He was closed off. This was the Dante that I hated. I'd always hated this side of him. This was his pouting and whining that I so desperately hated!

"No, but I understand why you asked for a kiss in front of Vergil. Cheeky devil," I muttered.

"I almost thought you would," He couldn't contain his grin.

"I'm no two timer. We weren't together when Vergil came back-"

"You don't have to justify it. I understand. I already know you didn't betray me so just drop it," He hissed through a snear.

"Okay," I breathed, not sure I could manage anything other than that.

"Let's head back to the shop. I need to wash up and then you can tell me about this whole ordeal of yours," Dante's hand rested on my head in reassurance before brushing past for the shop. I followed, watching the red leather coat trail behind him. The screaming skull of Rebellion stared back at me and I noticed a slight difference in the skull. It wasn't just a skull, it's mouth was wide open with teeth snarling back at me.

"Is that Rebellion?" I asked to confirm. I didn't to mistake it for another sword.

"Yeah, what other sword would it be?" He said cautiously and suspicion was lying beneath the surface.

"None other I suppose. It just looked different somehow," I murmured.

"Yeah it's been like this since Verge and I fought that day. You know, when-"

"Yes, I know," I stopped him. My mother's death was not something I wanted to be reminded of, even though I had accepted it.

Inside, the shop was quite bare. There was a pool table, a few couches and a desk. It was very open but just lacked the whole "business" feel to it. I spotted Eva's old vintage jukebox in the corner to my right, next a set of drums and guitar. Dante had always been skilled with the guitar. I'd often envied that, but at the same time loved it. He would serenade me whenever. Especially if he'd thought I was down about something. His performances were exclusively for Eva, Vergil, and myself. However whenever he played drums, it was more like savage noise than anything.

Reminiscing was quickly cut short when I caught sight of the mountain high pile of pizza boxes beside the desk. What a slob.

He'd never change.

"Didn't Eva ever tell you to pick up after yourself?" I giggled and he turned and smiled genuinely.

"Vergil was the neat freak, remember?" He hung the jacket on a hook placed on the wall behind the desk.

"I like what you've done with the place," I avoided speaking about Vergil and changed the topic. I saw the pool table and the urge to start a game rose within me. It'd been so long since I played a game of pool.

"You wanna play?" He'd caught my stare at the pool table.

"I would, but..." I sighed.

"It's not like you're drinking. It won't hurt Vergy Jr." Dante sauntered -shirtless- over to the sticks that were mounted on the wall grabbing a slightly smaller one for me.

"I don't know what it is yet," I laughed, taking the stick, "Who's breaking?"

"You can," He gathered the balls into the triangle then removed it, waiting for me.

"How many months?" He asked as I broke the triangle, watching the colorful orbs spread over the table. One managed to make it into a hole.

Dante scoffed, "As expected of you," He added, "So how many months?"

"A little over two,"

As the time passed and our game ended our conversation had become more natural. It felt like I was talking to the Dante I'd always known and loved. I apologized for the incident between us all a few months ago and he waved it off. It was so like him to put on the front of being unbothered. He'd whine and argue over it for a little while, but then he would just wave it off as if nothing happened. That was just how he was, and I loved it.

"So how does my beloved brother feel about this?" Dante offered me a pop.

"He would never admit to it, but I know that he's terrified. Kids were not exactly part of the plan. The only reason he'd ever want a kid would be to carry on the family line. Also, I think he'd want a powerful demon to have his child, not some half breed like me," Vergil hadn't disapeared or run off like when he found out about my dad, but he was slightly more distant than he already was. However, when he did become close with me, or intimate for that matter, he was so... fierce. So much so I would nearly drown in his intensity each time. He didn't dare go further than third base, but that was to be expected. I was pregnant after all.

However, not being able to be embraced by Vergil in the way I longed for, for a total of nine months would probably be torture. A torture I was glad to put up with for this child. I'd become more affectionate towards the idea and even looked forward to the child to come. I was already thinking of names and outfits. What would the child look like? It would most likely look like me considering I had the dominate hair and eye color but what about its features? Would it be a boy who looked like Vergil or a girl that looked like me? Or maybe the other way around? I was dying to know who the kid would take after!

"He may have changed a bunch since he left but I think I know him enough to say that he wouldn't have children with some random demon. Not just anyone could pop out his spawn. If he feels the way he supposedly does, he wouldn't let anyone but you have his kid, if he were to have kids at all," A knock came at the door and Dante set his drink down and walked with his own sexy swagger to the door. It was the pizza boy.

"Put it on my tab," He went to take the pizzas. I watched the boy's uncomfortable face. No matter how you looked at it, Dante was a fairly intimidating person. He was shirtless standing in the doorway, towering over the human teenage boy who was on the thin side. His big brown eyes looked as though he'd seen a ghost.

"But Dante-I mean- Sir, we've been ordered to not deliver you pizza unless you pay your tab or pay for the pizza up front," Oh dear, if that boy ever looked scared before, he looked like he'd just shit his pants trying to talk to the enormous devil boy. The pizza boy was probably the same age as Dante, but given Dante's body of a grown man, he probably felt pathetic in comparison.

"Gah, dammit, I'm barely scrapping by as it is-"

"Dante, relax, I'll take care of it," I laughed, pulling two twenties from my pocket. I never liked carrying a purse, no matter how cute they were, "How much, man?" His eyes widened even further once I'd peered in from behind Dante. A common reaction that I'd grown used to over the years. My beauty, though I never liked the idea of it, had always left others in a daze. I hate to brag or be so arrogant, but it was true. I also never looked at myself as any better than another. I hated those types of people.

"T-T-Twenty-two dollars and seventy-five cents," He stammered. I handed him the two twenties.

"Keep the change. And might I inquire as to what his tab is?"

"Sarla, you don't-"

"This is my way of saying thanks," I cut Dante short.

"Um, it's nine hundred-sixty dollars and thirty- five cents," The boy looked at piece of paper. No doubt it was a notice for Dante that he'd meant to give him.

"Good Lord, how much and often do you eat pizza Dante?" I exclaimed.

"They have good stawberry sundaes too," He shrugged.

"And you, why does your boss allow him to go this long?" The boy who now that I'd gotten a better look at, was fairly plain with sandy brown hair, brown eyes and the minor case of acne. I had the feeling he cleaned up well though. He dry swallowed when I addressed him.

"Boss just said that Mr. Dante wasn't someone to anger and that's why we let him go this long," He answered, watching Dante for any trace of anger. It was quite the opposite, he seemed almost indifferent.

"Look at you, what did you do to scare them?" I pointed out his nonchalance.

"The owner of the joint caught me in the middle of a fight with one of those lessar demons in the ally behind his shop," He shrugged. Did he not remember that most humans were unaware of devils, now? Except for our hometown.

I sighed before flipping through all my hundreds until I counted a thousand and handed it to the boy, "Consider the change as payment for his next order," The kid just looked at me astonished. I suppose it wasn't entirely misunderstandable. Here I was, an attractive girl just randomly handing out a thousand dollars plus the initial payment as if it were nothing.

As I mentioned before, I didn't know where Vergil got the money, but I wasn't quite sure I wanted to know.

"Uh, yes, thank you, Miss. Have a nice night to both of you," He waved as he all but run back to his delivery car.

"I'm not even going to ask where all that money came from," Dante laughed, closing the door.

"Yeah, neither am I," I giggled, "I don't think I want to know where Vergil gets it,"

"I probably wouldn't either, if I were you,"


	12. So Much It Hurts

**Not my favorite chapter but if anything It helps the story progress. Hope you enjoy! =)**

"Thank you, Dante. For listening to my sob story and all," I said as he escorted me to the door, "Not being able to see you because of all this has been bothering me,"

"Yeah yeah, whatever. Just don't go causing any trouble. I already got enough to deal with, knowing that Vergil's planning on raising that tower. Not to mention I'm going to be an Uncle," He scratched his head; A mannerism that had always been his.

"Not for a while," I grinned widely and to my surprise, he held out his arms for a hug. It was slightly unlike him. He wasn't exactly cold and unfeeling like Vergil, but Dante had never been the hugging or emotional type. He disguised his feelings behind a rebellious and sarcastic facade. If he wasn't being a smartass, he was probably acting the delinquent, daredevil role. The devil may care attitude fit him flawlessly. My grin became a flat out smile and I didn't hesitate to accept his embrace.

Shadowing back to the mansion normally wouldn't be a problem, but what I forgot was that some demons have this ability too. To travel within shadows or to become a shadow themselves, was an ability I'd only encountered once other than myself. This was the second.

The devil showed it's ugly body as it just peeled itself off the wall of a building. The black shape of it's shadow quickly slithering away from the brick to become more tangible.

_It's a Lord._ I realized immediately. This devil wasn't exactly your every day garden variety. This snake/dragon looking beast was on a completely different level from the demons I was accustomed to killing. I'd never fought a Lord. A higher leveled demon. Vergil had, and I'd watched him, but that was Vergil. He made it look easy.

And in the moment, I was lacking a weapon besides the throwing knives strapped to my thigh and a short blade I'd hidden on my back. I could use my abilities but that wasn't exactly a guarantee. Even after these years of training, using my powers in combat was still difficult.

_Should a pregnant woman fight?_ I asked myself sarcastically. I took one last glance at the grotesque devil then bolted, refusing to shadow away. Who knew if he could catch me that way?

_Wind. Wind. Wind. Wind. Wind. Wind..._ I chanted almost in a panic, mentally. If I could just call the wind I would fine. An air shield was all I needed and I would be able to escape.

No luck.

_Dammit, light and sharp. Light and sharp. Light and sharp. Thin and strong. Thin and strong._ The more I thought those concepts, the better and faster the shield formed. The sound of the serpent like creature dragging it's long body behind them was clear to my ears. They were not very far behind me and when I turned my head to look, my suspicions were confirmed. The thing was dead on my heels. I pushed myself harder, forcing my legs to run even faster. Faster than the inhuman speed I was already traveling at.

_Of all times I have to be attacked while prego!_

"The daughter of Lord Mundussssss. Such a delectable ssspecimen. You really are gorgeousssss my dear," Like the idiot that I was I turned my gaze again to see that the serpent had changed forms. It appeared more human, minus the two horns protruding out of its head of seaweed green hair that fell in long strands down to the middle of his back I was sure. Green gold eyes peered at me hungrily. The slitted pupil narrowing even more than it already was. Massive black wings like that of a dragon sprouted from his back and he was lifted into the air.

_Would transforming hurt the baby? _I panicked. There was no way I could escape him unless I took to the air like he.

_Unless..._

"I don't know who you are but I'm afraid you'll have to reschedule your appointment. I have openings for NEVER!" I shouted, finally finishing conjuring up the air shield that I'd desperately been in need of. Just in time too, for he dove down in that instant but was repelled by the shield.

"A barrier?" That damn hiss that escaped his lips made me want to cringe, "If you think that barrier will save you, you are wrong,"

I didn't retort, I just continued to run.

It was then that I thought I felt a presence that was oddly familiar. I wanted to say it was Vergil, but the presence dissapeared as quickly as it had appeared.

Strange...

"Hey didn't your mother ever tell you not to hit a girl?" I stopped running and halted when Dante's voice echoed from behind. If I had ever been happy to see him before, it was nothing compared to now, "Why don't you go pick on someone your own size, pal." With his unsurpassed gunslinging, he'd pulled ebony on the slithering fiend.

"Pal?" I sighed. If only his wit was as quick as his hands and guns. Normally that saying would have been reversed but in his case, it was true. He was a complete smartass and sarcastic, but I'd always viewed it as funny. Still, there were times when I had to wonder.

All in an instant, Dante had disposed of the Lord before I could even focus. I was exhausted from the running, and the shield had taken more energy than I'd anticipated. If only I could train, but no, I had to be pregnant.

"You alright?" I hadn't realized it until that moment that I had passed out and collapsed against the side of a building an. When I finally snapped out of it I was staring into frosty, chrystalline, blue eyes. Just for a fraction of a second I thought I was looking into Vergil's cool gaze, but quickly recognized him to be Dante.

"Just now... I thought I sensed Vergil up on the roof," I rubbed my eyes, trying to clear them. My surroundings were blurry and Dante's profile was the only thing that was clear to me.

The bone chilling prescence had caught my attention earlier but it had vanished all in an instant. However this time, it had been twice as menacing and all the more noticeable to me. If he'd been there the whole time, then why did he leave me in such a situation? Why hadn't he slayed the devil when he knew I was in trouble?

"You did?" Dante's eyes widened and turned his sight to the roofs above and scanned them, "Do you know where?" He asked impatiently, staring me awfully expectantly in the eyes.

I merely shook my head lazily. I couldn't really feel his aura much anymore. It had faded quickly once more. No doubt he'd realized he'd let go out of his control. He knew how quickly I picked up on it. That meant he was trying to disguise his prescence. What was his goal? Why didn't he just show himself?

Dante relaxed, having realized he wouldn't be able to find Vergil without my help. _He's not about to put that on me._ I thought. Whether he wanted to fight Vergil or not, he knew he couldn't ask me to help him.

"Hey," He murmured.

I looked up and was met with warm lips crushing against my own. His tongue remained contained within his own mouth but he didn't let me off so easily. His strong hand lightly brushed my cheek and ear. I found myself unable to resist. Better put, unable to do anything. I couldn't respond nor could I push him away. When he drew back though I thought I was seeing double. I'd all of a sudden become so lightheaded.

"I'm not going to hand you over so easily, whether you're carrying his kid or not. I'll fight not only to stop his crazy little plan, but to also take you back as well,"

...

After I discovered the land of my legs once again, I saw Dante off, trying to push aside his words. However such a feat was impossible. After someone tells you something like that, it's not so easy to merely cast it aside. Of course I already knew my answer. I loved Dante.

But I loved Vergil more. ... romantically speaking. I wasn't quite sure how to say it. I loved them equally, but romantically, I loved Vergil.

However, as of the moment I came to realize once again... why hadn't he saved me?

Why had he stood nearby clearly aware of my situation, yet done nothing? It really pissed me off!

As if the bastard had telepathy and heard my thoughts, he decided to appear. Literally. All in the blink of an eye he'd appeared before me, standing as regally as ever with that cold, merciless gaze.

"You were with him?" Though his exterior was composed and blank, I was almost overwhelmed by his aura. I could see it oh-so-clearly. I didn't think an aura as foul as his could become much worse. On a day to day basis his aura was naturally charcoal gray and deep, dark purple. Full of darkness and hate. Now it was seething with onyx flames and dark variations of red, purple, and blue. They all twisted and tangled themselves around his body, eneveloping him his demonic shadow. I could clearly see the inner devil's black silhoute looming over his magnificent body, just daring to be released.

"What's it to you?"

I was begginning to think I wanted to die. That had to be the reason why I was replying so rebelliously. That had to be the reason why I was no doubt provoking him with my nonchalant response, "You were there, why didn't you help me instead of your brother? Did you think I couldn't sense you?" Watching the level of anger in his aura spike somehow satisfied me in a way. Did I enjoy angering him?

Of course I did! He'd left me for Dante to save and was now demanding an explanation for _My_ actions, and not _His_! The damn-

"I see your sensory ability is much more sensitive than I thought," Was that all he had to say for himself?

"Is that all? You're quite angry, I can tell,"

"What would I be angry about?" He took a step forward and instinctively, sensing danger, I took a step back.

I had to be insane to say what I said next, "Well, judging from the level of jealousy that is in your aura, I'd say it was my visiting Dante that upsets you," I was as good as dead if I continued further. If there was one thing Vergil didn't like, it was people telling him what he was feeling. Though I did it plenty, it was because it was me, and he gained some form of amusement from my readings, but right now he was not exactly in his best mood. Right now I was as good as Arkahm talking to him. I'd lost favoritism.

"And what happened when you visited Dante?" He was severely angry. I didn't have to see his aura. His mannerisms. How he was staying calm and even had a faint but frightening smile tugging at his perfect lips was how I knew.

"We talked about the baby. I think the Godfather has a right to know. Afterall, this is his nephew. I don't care if the circumstances are far from normal, I was raised human and I will have this child the human way and follow through with the human traditions that follow. Whether there is a family feud or not, your brother is this child's uncle and now its Godfather. Is it so wrong that I went to inform Dante of this?" Regardless of how angry he was, I was almost just as angry.

"So informing him of such news consitutes a kiss?" _Oh..._

Well that explained a lot. No wonder he was angry. No wonder he was jealous.

"If you saw that, then I'm sure you were able to distinguish who was the victim," I almost laughed. Though he probably didn't think so, I definately thought it was funny.

"Either way you should have informed me of what you were doing. Trailing you is not on my list of things to do,"

"Oh, you worry about me," I didn't bother to disguise my smile, "Or is it because of little Vergy Jr.?"

He didn't answer and instantly I realized I was right.

"Oh," I breathed. He still didn't say anything, "Well..."

"Come on, let's get back," He stopped me and turned gracefully, his long blue coat trailed behind him in the three seperate tails.

"Okay," I murmured, following him, watching the silhouette of the angry demon slowly diminish and the last vesitge of his foul black aura faded and calmed to his natural charcoal and purple.

I caught him glancing over the shoulder at me and a sigh escaped him only detectable through the relaxation of the shoulders.

"I hope you're prepared for punishment when we get back,"

"Pervert," I said under my breath.

"What was that?" There was a smile in his voice.

"I said I look forward to it,"

"There will be extensive leg work,"

"Kinky," I whispered to myself.

"You brought it on yourself," I heard him mumble something about a pervert to himself and I couldn't help but smile.

_You love me. So much it hurts. _Maybe I was being a fool but if I was a fool, I was a happy fool.


	13. Nero

**This is the chapter I have been absolutely dying to finish! I like this and I hope you will too. Thnx for sticking around and reading it as long as you have despite its faults and flaws. **

"Ow that hurts, damn you!" I groaned, bracing my stomach. The sensation of a good kick was felt beneath my hand, "Vergil, your son is such a brat!" I gazed down at the roundness of my belly poking out from under my cami.

"You keep saying it's a boy. How are you so sure?" He said haggardly. He was kicked back on the couch across from me, one arm pulled over his eyes and the other hung down over the side of the couch. He looked exhausted.

"A woman's intuition. I know what's going on inside my body. Honestly, and any child that acts like this has got to be an arrogant and cocky little boy like his father," I laughed.

Seven months had passed since when I realized Vergil's secret concern for our baby and now at nine months I was due in roughly a week. I hadn't even started to show my pregnancy until five months. I had barely gained a pound no matter how much I had eaten. Once five months had hit though, oh damn, it was like I woken and over night I had gotten a belly. Vergil seemed quite amused by it, too. Secretly I couldn't help but think he liked it. He liked to play with it when we slept. Leave it to him to have some weird prego fetish.

Dante probably got the biggest kick out of it than anyone. I'd visited him often but then stopped for a few weeks. When I did visit though, he really couldn't resist laughing. I couldn't recall a time I wanted to punch him more than then.

"Well lets just hope he doesn't have an appetite like his mother. He'll eat us out of house and home," That same tired and lazy tone. Watching him lay there the way he was really just made me want to lick chocolate off him. At first it surprised me when he started to wear more ... normal clothing. It still caught me off guard sometimes. It was like he was starting to become more human. Change of clothes may not have meant anything but he truly was beginning to change. Slowly,sure, but nevertheless, changing. Even though the feelings and emotions he was uncovering had all started out as negative ones, he was still discovering feeling. To me, even that was enough. The changes were subtle, but it started to make me wonder if he could truly change for the better.

It didn't matter either way. I'd still love him even if he fell completely into darkness. Whoever said love was easy?

"That's just cold," I whined.

"Your mood swings and cravings are hard enough to deal with, but even your powers are out of control. Things spontaneously start on fire, my water bottle sprays all over me, damn earthquakes, you cool the air down to freezing temperatures in your sleep," There was irritation in his words but his aura told me otherwise. He actually found those events funny.

"Anything else you want to complain about?"

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot. You froze my bathwater with me in it. Talk about being frozen in place," He mumbled something about frostbite. Ah, he was sulking again.

"I wonder what he'll look like. Maybe he'll look like you but with my hair and eyes. You know, since dark is dominate,"

"You're dark alright," He mumbled but I ignored it. I knew full well he wasn't referring to my features.

"Or maybe he'll look more like me. I'm dying to know!" I giggled. I was anxious and who could blame me?

"Did you ever consider that he may just look like me?" He sighed.

"It's a possibility but highly unlikely don't you think? Dark is dominate. I have darker eyes and hair. As adorable as it would be if he looked like you, I can't help but think it's a slim chance," I shrugged.

"My mother's hair was darker than my father's and I look like my father," Vergil reasoned.

"I barely remember Sparda's face ... his human one, anyway, and besides your mom was a blond anyway," I heard him chuckle faintly at my words.

"Mother always told us that we might as well have been father's clones,"

"You have Eva's lips," I smiled, "Which I'm very grateful for,"

"I'll bet you are. You don't look like your mother at all. She had orange hair and blue eyes, not to mention she had pale skin. She contrasted you quite a lot, in fact," He looked me over, as though he was putting our images side by side and comparing.

"Her hair wasn't orange, it was red-orange," I corrected. Calling my mother's hair orange made me think of a literal orange, and the color so did not match, "And knowing I look nothing like my mother only leads me to believe that I look like my Father. That's something I don't want to be compared to," I added bitterly.

"I don't think your father could be as attractive. Whether you look like your mom or not, you get your appeal from her," God forbid he say beauty. It really was hard for him to compliment and sound romantic.

"I'll take that as you calling me beautiful," I muttered.

"You should," ... Really?

"That's something I never thought you'd say," My words were near inaudible as I mumbled the.

"What was that?" He shifted his frosty gaze to me dangerously.

"Nothing," I sighed. He "hmm"ed in response.

When I struggled to stand and the sharp pain in my lower back and abdomen froze me in place, it was like he knew instinctively. He teleported instantly to me and lowered me back down on the couch.

"Is it a kick?" He held his hand over my pot belly.

"Ya, I think it-AH!" I flinched when another strong ache shook me and continued. The pain lasted around two minutes before it receded and I was able to relax, but there was still a pressuring feeling in my pelvis. I felt as though I had to pee.

Or...

Wait...

"Vergil, you're going to have to find me fresh clothes, preferably a nightie and underwear,"

"Why?"

"My water just broke," His eyes widened incredulously and I wasn't sure if he was going to be able to move. He looked like he was nailed to the spot, but before I could repeat myself or ask if he was okay, he stood with ease and sauntered to the closet.

While he did that I carefully lifted myself from the dampened couch and managed to waddle to the bathroom. He entered behind me and to my complete surprise, undressed me and redressed me.

"Not going to a hospital really makes me uneasy," I exhaled nervously.

"Would you like to go to a hospital?" He sounded serious, and I'm sure he was.

"No, it's just the pain that is to come that is unsettling,"

"I've seen you beaten with crowbars. You'll manage."

"Was I shoving a crowbar the size of a small human being from my body?" I snapped. Honestly the thought of giving birth was starting to frighten me now that it was happening. To my complete irritation, the door to the room creaked and moaned as it opened ever so slowly to show the silhouette of Arkham standing in the doorway before entering as lithe and cunning as a snake. He truly was a slimy and slithery bastard. If he was coming to tell Vergil he'd located another seal I would probably light his ass on fire with my eyes! I was in labor for fuck's sake!

Vergil turned his attention reluctantly to Arkham and his eyes narrowed with an unmistakeable flash of ice cold, contempt. Whether Arkham was our ally now or not, I already knew Vergil would never trust him, "You better have a good reason for entering unanounced," Vergil said in the tone that I had come to characterize as his irritated tone. It was the kind of voice that sent shivers down your spine but still made you want to listen more. It was intimidating to any normal person but Arkham remained unaffected. It almost baffled me how he was not afraid of Vergil. I was afraid of Vergil, and I was the one who loved him.

"The next seal has been located," The words crawled from his mouth. I hated this man. He gave me goosebumps. In a test of power and fighting abilities I certainly outmatched him, but not knowing what he had planned for us after Vergil achieved his goal made me uneasy. Arkham gave me the impression of a ramora. The fish that fed off the scraps of a shark, not having to do a thing. Or he was some kind of fish that laid at the bottom of the ocean, completely disguised until the select opportunity came along and his true nature would give way and it would be too late for his prey.

I looked at Vergil and he felt my stare. If he went off in search of a seal I would leave right here and now and never look back, no matter how much I loved him. One seal could wait. It wasn't like the whole world was out looking for them. Besides, only a son of Sparda could undo it. Dante could care less anyway unless he could stop Vergil. In addition, Dante didn't have a clue where the seals were.

"The seal can wait. She's in labor," He didn't look at me, but only lifted those silver orbs to sear Arkham with his gaze. It translated to "Get the hell out of here".

"But-"

"As of the moment it is the least of my concerns. I'm sure you can wait while my son is being born," The way he said_ my_ son filled me with warmth. He was acknowledging this child as his son and it made me want to throw myself in his arms. When Arkham left the room I realized I was doing just that. My arms had wrapped themselves around his neck. He was half kneeling and I felt his slight apprehension at my touch before relaxing and returning my embrace with his own gentle but firm hold. He buried his face in between my neck and shoulder and I felt him take in my scent. Sometimes it felt like I was holding a child. The innocence of Vergil that had long since dissipated, was something that I longed to see again. The moments that he acted like this almost made me break inside everytime. His most vulnerable moments were the most precious to me, and every time I felt a rush of heat. I didn't know when I would ever get used Vergil himself. I wondered if my flighty and light nerves would ever calm around him. I was always excited to some degree when he was in the room. Whenever I saw him my heart raced and I felt like I could run ten miles easily. It was like an adrenaline rush just being near him.

Though the irony of my feelings and the reality of it all would leave anyone confused, I could only find it amusing. The most dangerous person in the world was also my safe haven. The person I felt most at peace around, whether I was wired or not when around him. He was my sanctuary in a life of turmoil. I only hoped he could be that person for our son. It was a blurred hope that chances were, wouldn't be fulfilled so long as his goal was to open the gate. It was depressing, I was one of those optimistic devils that could only hope and pray against his demonic nature.

_Warm. Mother. Warm. Sarla._ The stronger words of his mind were shared with me through our closeness. My aura reading was most intune to him. I was so familiar with his that at times I could catch his feelings or thoughts through a matter of a few words. I couldn't read his mind but I could catch the simplest form of his thoughts. Right now, I reminded him of Eva, a person of warmth and the most significant figure in Vergil's life until me. If Vergil had ever loved anyone, it was Eva, his mother. I knew that her death was the cause that had set motion to this domino effect leading up to now. There had always been more darkness in Vergil than Dante, but had Eva lived, I don't think it would have taken root and spread the way it had.

_Everything happense for a reason._ I had stood by this belief my entire life. As grim and sad as the idea was, if Eva hadn't died, none of this probably would have happened. Dante wouldn't have left to become a devil hunter if he hadn't wanted revenged against demon kind for killing her. Vergil wouldn't have obtained the obsession for the need of power. He wouldn't need to feel responsible for not being strong enough. He wouldn't have faked his death. He wouldn't have left us and I would probably still be with Dante while he watched from the sidelines, unable to have me, and I unable to have him. I wouldn't be pregnant and giving birth to his child, and if I was pregnent it would most likely be Dante's.

And this child wouldn't be this child.

The child now, would be a demon among demons. A halfbreed though he would be, he would dominate demonkind. The union of the Demon King's blood and power, and the Dark Knight's legacy and blood, would give birth to an even more powerful force. A halfbreed who should be weaker and inferior to a pureblood, would be stronger than any of them.

Just like Vergil.

Just like me.

"I love you," I murmured, kissing the top of his snowy head and rubbing my face against his.

He brought his attention to my face and ogled me for the longest moment, gazing directly into my eyes and I couldn't help but peer into his. I could see myself in his eyes and in that reflection I could see him in mine. He then did something I never would have expected. He kissed the top of my forehead, then my nose, then both my eyes, and then held his forehead to mind; our noses touching, before claiming my lips tenderly and sweetly. Lightly.

"When I awaken the tower, I don't want you there. I don't want you in or even near the tower. Take Nero and get away," He said once he released my lips but still held my face lovingly with our foreheads touching again.

"Nero?" I wasn't quite sure what he was saying. Did he mean-

"Our son," He smirked. That half hearted smile almost proved too much to resist, but I managed and didn't dare ruin the intimate moment.

"Nero, huh?" I pursed my lips while thinking about the name, "Out of all the simple or normal names in the world, you like the name, Nero. Does your family have a fascination with the Romans? Dante and Vergil. Dante's Inferno, and written by a Roman. Nero, a powerful emperor of ancient Rome. Sometimes referred to as the anti-christ. That's far fetched if you ask me," I waited.

"Nero was a halfbreed. Not the anti-christ. If anyone remotely deserved that title it would be you. You are the Demon King's child. However I do not believe in the anti-christ. Nero is a suitable name. He was strong. A King of Kings. On top of that he was a halfbreed like this child will be," So he had given thought to this all along. While I had been sitting there these past few months thinking of names, he had too, if not already had it in mind.

"Nero," I breathed. It came out naturally and much to my surprise, it seemed as though it fit. So he had put thought in this. I was amazed.

When the child asked who named him and why that name, I would tell him it was his father. That he was named after a king. I would tell him just what his father had thought when he named him. That he would be a demon of demons. He would be fit to be a king. He would be the supposed inferior one to a pureblood, but whose blood surpassed that of any pureblood. I would tell him his father thought the world of him even before he was born. So much that he named him after an ancient king. A king who shared the title of a halfbreed but of noble demon blood. Nero would be more than a halfbreed. He would be more than a pureblood. He would be more than a king. He would be Nero. He would be the son of Vergil and Sarla. He would be the descendent of the Dark Knight and Demon King. The descendent of the two most powerful demons. He would be Nero. And he would be above all who stood in his way. He was more than this world. More than the Demon World. More than Heaven, and more than Hell.

He was Nero.

He was our son.

He was everything.

Everything a father and mother could want. Not even born, and he was already all of those things. Afterwards and for the rest of his life he would only become even more than all this.


	14. What are you planning?

**This took forever to finish, and I'm not quite satisfied with it, but plz enjoy it the most you can =)**

"I thought he'd have my eyes, since mine are darker. Same goes for his hair. It's as white as yours," Though I had been anticipating the child to look like me, I knew deep down that I'd wanted Nero to look like Vergil all along. Silver hair and all. The eyes though, I was surprised how much they resembled Vergil's. They didn't have the same look to them. Vergil's eyes always carried a manner of aloofness. The color however, was identical to his father's. They were the baby blue eyes all newborns had. Those were Vergil's eyes. During my research about demon pregnancies, I'd uncovered that Demons such as I was, the ones who took more human appearances, were stronger. My appearance had nothing to do with being half human. Also, I learned that demons were born with all the features that they would have for the rest of their lives; Meaning that Nero's hair and eyes and nose ...etc. were the ones he would have for the rest of his life, granted with a little bit of developing along the way. So his eyes would always be this color and his hair as well.

What had me scared was his teeth. When those babies grew in I just knew that breast feeding was going to be hell. Demons started teething faster than humans. Half breeds grew faster, both mentally and physically. I knew this. I was an example of it. Also, a demon's affinities or abilities for that matter developed strongly in the first few months after birth. I was curious. I could manipulate elements, read auras and was physically advanced. Vergil was physically advanced as well. Especially his speed. His specific affinity was combat and even more specifically, swordsmanship. There were countless other things he could do, but there was no point in listing them. Either way, as a combination between us, what Nero would be able to do really just peaked my interest.

"Here you were so sure he would have your hair and eyes," Vergil had found it to his liking. Of course he would. I didn't know if he liked rubbing it in more than the actual thing or not. Probably both. Something told me he was the kind who liked the idea of dominance. Whether it was in power or the gene pool. Or maybe it was just me. Why would Vergil ever feel the need to dominate?

"Well, I was sure he was a boy, and looky here," I pointed to the quiet child in my arms.

"Gender is a fifty-fifty guess, Sarla. Guessing traits is more difficult,"

"I already knew that the chances of recessive traits have a better chance than normal of showing in demons. Obviously not as much as dominant but the chances are better," Honestly, all the books I'd read went into more detail than my biology II textbook from school did. The libraries of the mansion were filled with books on subjects I'd never even heard of. However the books that referred to demons were more commonly found in the private library which Vergil had come to this mansion to discover. It was all in order to gain information on his father and the seals. The very seal that Arkham had come to inform Vergil about during my horrible time of labor, still remained untouched. Vergil still hadn't left to unbind its magic. Secretly I was relieved that he hadn't yet. Nothing would stop him from doing it, but for the time being, having him here instead of opening the gate held more appeal to me.

He sighed. He'd barely held Nero. Only when he was born... An experience much more painful than I had ever imagined. I had been afraid I'd pop every blood vessel in my body. I had been glad when Alice had come in. It saved Vergil from having to be on the recieving end and so that he could let me squeeze the feeling from his hand. He hadn't been to thrilled about that.

"Do you want to hold him? I have to go to the bathroom," It was more of an excuse to get him to hold Nero than it was for me to empty my bladder, but it benefited me as well. I did need to pee.

He hesitated, scoffed, then ran his fingers through his hair, disrupting the styled angles and letting them fall unevenly around his face. He really made it hard to breathe when around him. Then he turned to me on the couch and outstretched his arms and took Nero from me, holding him uneasily. I steadied his hold and he relaxed, cradling Nero's small body against his chest. I paused, watching Nero's breathing fall in rythem with Vergil's own steady breaths, before rising and heading to the bathroom.

There had never been a time when I could call Vergil cute. Not until now. Two white haired devils together and holding each other. That was when I realized Nero had opened his eyes and was peering up at Vergil wonderously. Nobody remembers being a baby and so I couldn't help but wonder what it must be like being brought into the world. What did they see? What did they hear, smell, and feel? What were their senses filled with? The farthest back my memory stretched, I was barely two. That was another thing I had read in the books. Demons' memories were sharper than humans'. They could remember all the way back to their youngest years. Obviously not as newborns or even year olds but they would be able to recall images and such. That probably explained why Vergil, Dante, and I could remember some things about Sparda. ...His human form.

He'd had hair as white as his sons' and now his grandson's. When Vergil said that he looked like Sparda, it wasn't a joke. From the pictures I could conjure up, he was the spitting image of Sparda. The shape of his face, his nose, his eyes, and definately his chin. Above all else was Vergil's size. Six foot-three and two hundred pounds of all muscle. Vergil came off as big but also lean at the same time. He wasn't enormous, but he was a big guy. He made me feel petite next to him, and I was tall as well and not particularly stick thin. As Vergil put it, I had the body of an athlete and a model mixed into one. I wasn't quite sure what to make of that. All I knew was that it felt like my legs went on for miles.

So Nero was bound to be tall. He was bound to be strong. And if he took after the father the way he was looking to, I was going to have to lock him up and away from the girls. The boy was barely a day old, and I'd already thought this far ahead.

I finished my potty break and sat beside my white demons on the couch. Vergil offered me to take Nero, but I insisted he continue holding him. I had seen Vergil the demon. Vergil the killer. Vergil the knight. Vergil my lover. Vergil my confident. I had seen Vergil afraid, sad, mad, hateful, jealous, annoyed, cold, lustful, passionate, exhausted, hurt, and power hungry. I had never seen Vergil, the father. Vergil, the father of my child. _Our _child. As much as he followed the demon path, he looked so human to me in that moment. He looked like the nervous, new father. I'd viewed Vergil as beautiful countless times, but he made the moment beautiful now. Not just him, but the scene itself. I felt the urge to take a picture, as I knew it wouldn't last forever.

And so I did.

Much to his irritation. However, he knew not to reap me of such joy. This picture was going in my album.

Ah, the album. A large leather bound book that held my memories within it. I had always saved pictures since I was young. My mother had gotten me into the habit of saving pictures and putting them into the album. When Vergil discovered it the first time and found all his childhood pictures with Dante and myself, he threatened to burn it and I had to freeze him to the floor -literally- to keep him from taking it. I had found a better hiding place for it since then.

... Underneath his side of the bed. They say you miss what's right under your nose. So far it worked.

"I'm going to take a nap, so why don't you watch him?" Once again I was trying to ease Vergil into the Father position. However, I was exhausted and sleep would be welcomed wholeheartedly.

He looked at me for only the second time with terror. The first being the time when I told him I was pregnant. His aura flared with panic for the first time and I smiled, "He's calm and half asleep already. You shouldn't have any trouble," He still didn't answer.

Vergil afraid, was frightening to me.

"Vergil, he's your son. I carried the boy for nine months and just went through hell giving him to you. I still haven't slept and my body feels like it could collapse. If you get tired of holding him and he's asleep, put him in the crib," I reassured forcefully. I realized that with Vergil, you couldn't be just gentle, you would have to be firm as well. It was like Eva. Eva was the kindest, sweetest, and most pure hearted person the world had ever known, but she was firm. She was strong, and she never gave up -no matter what it was- to the very end. She was the epitome of what a woman should be. Her beauty was a bonus in that. Sometimes I swore she had to have been an angel.

When I woke from a much needed slumber I looked to the couch to see Vergil in the same position I'd left him in. Nero was fast asleep in the arms of his father. I smiled.

"How long have I been out?" I rubbed my eyes haggardly.

"A few hours," He wasn't surprised I was awake. He'd probably sensed me waking.

"I'll take him for you," I offered but he _Shhhd_ me.

"I'll hold him a bit longer. It's no big deal. You should go get something to eat," I must have looked at him with astonishment ironed to my face. He looked at me, puzzled by my reaction, "I'm sure you're hungry. I mean it's you we're talking about," He added, clearly unaware of what I was truly surprised by. His offer to hold Nero longer had me frozen to the spot with surprise. I knew Vergil wasn't _all _bad, but he wasn't all_ good_, either. His offer to babysit just scared the hell out of me because it was a gesture that was so uncharacteristic of him. Despite my surprise, I excused myself to the kitchen.

Alice sat impatiently on one of the bar stools, tapping her nails repetitively onto the black marble counters, laced with white streams. She perked up when I entered, "Finally! Arkham has had me on a tight leash. I'm not allowed to enter unless Vergil says so! I only got to deliver the kid. I haven't really gotten a good look at him!" She whined and then pointed a finger, "And what are you doing down here when you have a baby to care for?"

"I'm hungry," I stated.

"Well no surprise there, I suppose. Gah, shouldn't you be fat after giving birth?" She slid her eyes over my body as if looking for some hidden pouch of fat on my person.

"Good thing about being a halfbreed is that apparently it's nearly impossible to gain weight," I lifted my tank and showed what laid beneath. I recalled a time when I was younger and unaware of what I was. I had hated the idea of giving birth because of all the weight I would put on. Now, it was like a dream come true. The pain hadn't been all that great but that was done and over.

"I'll say. So how is Vergil taking to it? Him as a father is something I can't imagine," She laughed, twirling a strand of blonde hair around her finger.

"I thought that too, at first. I'm quite surprised though. He is the one who named the kid, too," I scratched the back of my head, perplexed by the enigma of Vergil.

"It really is amazing what love can do to a devil," Alice had taken on a more thoughtful expression, her eyes staring off into the countertops.

"What do you mean?"

"If you ask me The most powerful weapon against a devil is love. Well, maybe not as a weapon but it can make a significant change to the character of a demon. Take Sparda for example. Something must have softened his outlook on humans, or maybe he just pitied them, but either way, to mate with a human... that's just crazy to us purebloods-"

"Purebloods, halfbloods, quarter bloods, does it really matter? You can't help who you love. Humans are more emotional than devils but that doesn't mean a devil is completely incapable of such feeling," I interrupted, not so much annoyed by her but by the words. Wasn't there a saying, "The truth hurts"? Sounded like the theme to my life story.

"I'm not trying to offend you. You and Vergil are far stronger than current purebloods. Being halfbreeds doesn't really dilute the power in your blood in your cases. Especially Vergil, since he's already mastered his powers. You however! You are unstable!" She lifted her index finger sharply. She was like a mother the way she scolded despite being five years younger than me. If not a mother, then a whiny little sister.

"I'm aware that I'm unstable. Compared to when Vergil first took me with him, I'm a lot better. It's my devil trigger that I'm worried about. Mine's more complex than his. It doesn't help that I was raised unaware of my heritage and sealed away nontheless. My mother didn't want my father to find me so she and Sparda sealed power. When Vergil released the Seal it was too much so he ended up resealing my powers himself, so it's not as stable as the previous one. The seal he used on me only restricts that power as long as I allow it-"

"In other words, you have to keep all your dark feelings under control. Vergil said you could partially transform on your own, though," Before I even had time to realize she had moved, she was pooring me a bowl of cinnamon toasters and handing me a spoon.

"It takes effort but what you saw that one time is all I can do. I can't really control myself all that well in the next stage. Now that Nero's born I can finally return to that part of my training. Vergil only has two more seals to go and then all hell will break loose. Literally! Once he does that I won't be able to train very often so I need to get a lot done in such a short amount of time," I took my first bite and nearly drowned hapiness. Food! Sweet delicious food that I had not eaten since before going into labor. Oh!

"Your appetite never ceases to amaze me. By the way, I've been meaning to ask you something," She was serious out of the blue.

"What?" I said around a mouthful.

"What were you planning on doing once he recieves Sparda's power?" Her unwavering saphire eyes bore into me and for the first time I actually was able to acknowledge Alice's strength. She wasn't entirely all fun and games, "I know you're against the whole operation so what were you planning on doing to him once he achieves his goal? Without Sparda's power he cannot even hope to reseal the tower. This city will be engulfed by the tower and ravaged by the demons, you know that. Being raised a human, your morals conflict with this. You would never just stand by while such destruction occured. So what are you plotting is what I would like to ask," _Alice. Were you always this good at reading people?_

I hadn't thought about it for a while. I'd put those thoughts aside because of my pregnancy, but now that she was sizing up my intentions, I couldn't help thinking about it. Before, I would have fought Vergil, whether I was strong enough or not, and I would have killed him; but that was before we had become bound to one another as deeply as we were. The thought of killing Vergil... almost made me want to cry. Without Vergil... I would be alone and Nero would be fatherless. However, choosing Vergil over the world was selfish. Vergil may have been the world to me, but he wasn't the world to those who would be killed because of him. Alice or anybody for that matter could say that I didn't love him enough, but the fact was that I was so in love with him that I had actually given up everything for him. A normal human life. My friends and my own family had ended up coming second in the end. I had abandoned my promise to Eva to watch over Dante in order to stay by Vergil. I loved him, no matter what others said.

"I would fight,"

"Would you kill him?" Her eyes were truly like daggers, almost as sharp as her words. I couldn't hide my hesitation to answer. The answer had to be written all over my face. Her eyes narrowed. She knew.

"I could if I would," I answered.

"I think you have your words mixed," Her brows lifted with her confusion.

"No. I could kill him if I would. I would probably die in the process but I could kill him. I'm not as skilled as him. I can hold my own against him but I could never defeat him unless I pushed myself to my absolute limit. The only way I could avoid that would be to seal him instead," I tried to work my way around the question, but Alice wasn't that forgiving.

"You still didn't give me an exact answer. If it comes to it, will you kill him?"_ Damn you, Alice!_

"Yes," I answered the challenge in her eyes with my own, "But I pray, that it will not come to that," I swallowed the last of cereal and drank the remaining milk; wiping my lips on my sleeve, "I'll do anything to avoid that,"

We stared, neither of us ever batting a lash. Just when I thought it would last forever, she sighed.

"I'm not anywhere near your level, but if you hurt him, I'll come at you with all that I have. Know that," Once again she pointed an acusing finger and this time pushed my nose.

"I know, Alice," I was flooded with relief once I saw that she was back to her usual self. A serious Alice was more weird than I imagined. Alice and I immediatly perked up at the sound of wailing.

"Sarla, he's crying," A cool but seemingly distressed voice came from the doorway. I looked to see Vergil standing there with a crying Nero and a panicked expression plastered over his face. He was entire out of his comfort zone, I realized. It was honestly quite humorous seeing him so flustered.

"Vergil, what part of my body do you like the most?" I grinned. He looked at me as if asking such a question didn't make any sense at such a time. He really did have an adorable side of him. Sometimes I even thought he himself was still like a kid in some ways. His stubborn attitude rivaled a toddler's. For the most part he was in control of his feelings but every now and then they were let loose and those were the times when I could see a new expression on his face. Watching him and observing him never seemed boring. Not to me anyway. ... And certainly not to Alice.

"Your breasts," Of course I already knew that. Other than boobs he liked my legs and back. I wondered if I was imagining the faint blush under the light creamy beige of his skin.

"So does Nero," I held out my arms, beckoning him. I could see he was nervous from his aura but he still handed Nero to me as carefully as he would handle Yamato. That was saying something, "Time to eat," I giggled as I fixed Nero in my arms.

"I was content with your breasts before, but I can't help envying the brat since they're even bigger and he gets them all to himself," Vergil almost appeared to be pouting.

"You'll get your turn, just wait," I teased and stole a kiss.

"You know I'm not a patient person, Sarla," He grumbled but didn't pull his forehead away from mine.

"Ugh, now we're back to how it was before she was knocked up. I'll be sure to turn my radio up tonight. Enjoy yourselves," Alice waved a goodbye.

I caught her smiling fondly at Nero before exiting the room, and then I peered up at Vergil who was surprisingly doing the same. It hit then. My answer. It was painstakingly obvious. I knew it was the truth but even so, I couldn't help feeling that it may be the only way, no matter how much it would hurt in the end. Despite the fact that the truth to this question and answer was supposed to be more comforting, I knew that in the end, it was a lose and lose situation for me. No matter what, I lose something, whether it be my morals, or my love, and even... the father of my child.

_I can't kill him._


	15. Abadella

"He looks like me!" Dante laughed and took Nero almost enthusiastically from my arms. I had always expected Dante to hate kids, but this was a pleasant surprise.

"You mean he looks like Vergil," I grinned, watching Nero stare blankly up at Dante as if to say "Put me down you freak!".

"Ha, same thing. I must say, he doesn't look anything like you. Not in the least,"

"I was hoping he would at least have my eyes. It's hard enough for halfbreeds to have kids, that's why I was surprised when I found out I was pregnant. Since I thought there's a good chance this might be the only child I have, I was hoping I could at least look like I was related to him somehow, but as usual, Vergil has to dominate over everything! Even in the gene pool!" I sighed. I wasn't dissapointed with the way things turned out. Not at all. What was bothering me was what I had come to Dante for.

Alice's threat hadn't left my mind. Well, not so much her threat as the topic. Vergil knew I was against his plan to release the tower just for the sake of Sparda's power and he also knew that I wouldn't do anything to stop him, whether I loved him or not, but I also wouldn't do anything to help him.

"Sarla," Dante's tone made a 180. He was looking down at Nero in his arms with an almost sad expression. He must have saw himself in Nero. How could he not? The boy was replica of himself, "How much time do I have?" His silvery blue eyes shifted, now looking at me with utter seriousness glazed over them.

There was a moment, where I could not say a word. Vergil had found time to lift the seal he'd ignored when I was in labor. There was only the final seal left and according to Arkham, he already had a pretty good idea as to where it was located. The only one who was hesitating was Vergil, he'd said. Vergil wasn't one to hesitate and so it had weighed heavily on my mind as to what he was hesitating for. Trying to ask him about it was easier said than done. For one, he would just deny it and second, I was simply scared. There are few things that scared me, but Vergil did which was quite ironic given our relationship.

"With how things are going, it could happen at any moment. There's only one seal left, and Arkham already knows its whereabouts. The reason it hasn't happened already is because of Vergil," I allowed myself to sit. For such an old chair it was comfy and I examined the contents of his desktop. Seeing Eva's picture I ran my fingers over lightly on instinct. Pictures didn't do her justice, "Speaking of which, I came here for another reason,"

"What?" He'd found Nero's bottle and was feeding him with ease as if it were only natural. Honestly, Dante had never given me the natural father like image. Not as bad as Vergil but still, it was hard believing.

"Could you kill, Vergil?" The silence that followed felt as though it could suffocate. Those frosty blue eyes that I'd known since childhood, darkened with his thoughts. It was hard enough to decide on asking him. I'd thought if over the past two weeks since Alice's interrogation and finally found the guts to ask. They may have hated each other now, but they were still brothers. Twins at that. You couldn't be more related and close than that. My body ached just thinking about it. A world without Vergil was one I didn't wish to imagine, and getting my best friend since birth killed really twisted my insides.

He was quiet, peering down at Nero thoughtfully and almost sternly. The vein in his neck was starting to become visible; the sign that he was frustrated. It was a horrible thing for me to ask, and selfish at that, but... what else could I do? Dante... was the only one who stood a chance against Vergil.

"Yes," He said lowly. I almost didn't hear, "He's no longer my brother,"

"Dante-"

"I'm no saint, Sarla. I've done my fair share of things, and the temptation of power is not something I'm entirely against. Though I don't see the real need for me to get stronger," He paused, "But, I can't let him open that gate," I realized what he meant by that.

"You mean because of my father," I'd almost forgotten that Dante knew who my father was. He'd been shocked when I told him more than anything however he accepted me all in the same moment.

"That's not the only thing. My life's hard enough as it is, I don't need thousands of demons to add to the fire," What a liar. Heaven forbid he admit anything. He was like Vergil in that sense. Neither one could just say what they really wanted. Always having to hide their intentions and themselves behind their mask as the bad guys. Really, it got old sometimes.

"My father is waiting, Dante. He's waiting for one of you to claim Sparda's power so he can either devour you or something else. He's sealed. Not dead. Once Vergil awakens with your father's power, my father's seal won't hold out much longer. The sword may seal the worlds but Sparda's gone. My father is going to break free sooner or later," I closed my eyes. Of course the first thing I saw was Vergil. I saw him holding Force Edge. Then I saw him falling; falling ever so far into nothing, and then I saw three red dots engulfed in flame staring back at me in the darkness.

"SARLA!" I jumped when two large hands shook me by my shoulders desperately. Instinctively, fire came to my defense and Dante jerked his hands away, cursing as he did. My first thought was where had he put Nero and had he been close enough to be caught in my flames, "Fuck, that hurts!" I saw Nero lying in the carrier by the couch: Out of range, and so I relaxed, then took Dante's hands in mine. The burns would heal in a matter of minutes as it was already healing, "That's quite a defense you have,"

"You should see when I use electricity, even Vergil can't move for a good ten minutes or more when he gets zapped. Leaves a hell of a burn too," I gloved my hands with cold water and took Dante's hands again. It wouldn't heal it but it would sure as hell feel better.

"I'll bet. You seem to be able to handle your elements better. Been training?"

"Well, before when I couldn't fight with it against that Lord you saved me from, it was because I was pregnant. Being prego sends everything out of balance because Nero's lifeforce was colliding with my own while in the womb," Later in my pregnancy my powers had spiraled out of control. I'd even frozen Vergil into his own bathwater just by walking into the bathroom.

"Makes sense," It was quiet. Nero hadn't even made a sound. He was awfully fussy on rainy days like this but he'd been surprisingly quiet. Vergil had been damned near shocked when he woke and was quiet up until we left the mansion. Trying to ease the tension in my body I focused on Dante's aura.

Dante's aura was normally vibrant and brilliant red. Full of a form of passion. Lively, whereas Vergil's was dark and foreboding. Menacing and cool; The opposite of Dante's burning radiance. While they were twins, it amazed me how different they were. They always had been opposites. Dante was louder and passionate about the things he loved and liked to do. He always rushed into things, alot of the time without thinking, and whatever happened just happened. Vergil was calm, calculating, and sardonic. He could say anything with a straightface. Any "normal" girl would probably choose Dante because he was so unpredictable and exciting. Of course, I wasn't "normal". I was more like Dante than Dante was. I often wondered if the term "Opposites attract" proved true in case of Vergil and I.

Not only were they opposites in attitude, but their color scheming as well. They had each always worn red and blue for the most part since they were young. Once I realized I could see auras I wondered if their auras influenced that. Before Vergil dissapeared he was always surrounded by gentle shades of blue and white. Calm. Occasionally now, when he was in a _Good Mood_, his outer layer of gray, black, and purple would shed.

Beautiful.

We didn't say a word, and just stared at his burnt hands as they healed. It wasn't until the last bit of flesh sealed up did Dante speak, "You love him," I almost didn't hear that. I also hadn't realized that I still held his hands, "So why are you asking me to kill him?" He let go but I still couldn't look up at him.

The sigh that escaped me was really a much needed one, "I'm not. I could never ask you to kill your brother. Even if you say you could,"

"So then what are you asking?" I could feel those blue eyes burning their way into me so hard that I had to look up.

"I don't want to lose him," I exhaled and realized for the first time that Nero was crying. I teleported to the car seat in less time then it took to blink. My training had started back up almost immediatly after having Nero, and Vergil made it perfectly clear that I would learn teleportation at all costs. Of course, it was only short distance. Only demons that specialized in such a skill could change their entire location. Vergil and I were no such specialists. Altering and controlling the space and distance between us and our desired change of position was our specific ability. One that a great deal of the higher leveled demons could do.

"You want to know if I _will_ kill him?" He ignored my distraction. He scoffed, "Would you care to shed some light on what you are-"

"I don't want to lose him!" I yelled, trying to rock the crying out of Nero as I repeatedly _shhd_ and offered him the bottle, "And I'm afraid I will," Unconsciously I'd lowered my voice. Nero finally took the bottle and I could hear his greedy gulps.

I went to continue but the spine shivering scream that interrupted me came from outside the shop. Dante ran to the door, looking around before running back to me and throwing Nero's things into the bag, "Run out the back,"

"What's going on?"

"It's nothing I can't handle, but you have Nero, so get out of here," He ordered, slinging the bag around me and helping me tuck Nero into his seat. As he was ushering me out the back door, I heard whatever or whoever it was that was threatening us crash through the front.

"_Where are you, Princess?" _It was a man's voice.

"Dante-" I tried but he shut the door in my face after yelling for me to go. He was right. I couldn't just set Nero down to fight. Coming onto the street from the ally, I started to run.

"_And just where do you think you're going?"_ A woman this time. Her sensual voice purring from behind me. I whipped around and thoughtlessly released the crimson flames from my palm in a serpent like whip. She blocked, her arm sizzling from the point of contact, "My my my, so it's true. You can use the elements. No wonder he's so obsessed with you and that bastard of yours," She looked a few inches shorter than me. Probably five-five or six. Straight, blonde hair just past her shoulders framed her beautiful, pale face and the palest shade of blue I'd ever seen formed her irises. I couldn't help thinking I was looking at a blonde and older version of myself. She was light and I was dark, but with a severe attitude misplacement. The arrogant and cruel twist of her lips. _I was arrogant, _but she was an inflateable egoist. I didn't have to read her aura to see it.

However it added a little extra to my irritation, "And just who the hell are you?" I glanced at Nero, quiet and staring. Odd, really.

She gave a haughty laugh, "I'd thought you'd recognize your own kin," Wow, full of yourself much?

"I have no kin to recognize other than my "bastard"," I snarled, "Now answer the question,"

Another laugh, "Adabella. And you dear sister have been a thorn in father's side for some time," Her hand came up as if awaiting a high five but instead, eerie green light materialized into sword of middle eastern origin, but the blade was black with a violet design etched into it. A truly evil weapon, "I am to take you back. You and the brat. If you don't come willingly then-"

"Then you'll have to take us by force am I right? I'm afraid that as tempting as that sounds, I will have to _Decline!_" Ice sealed her in place and I didn't hesitate to form the sphere of water around her body. She struggled to breathe, and succeeding to once her blade sliced through the water and broke my concentration. Without missing a beat she transformed.

Her demonic form was something like that of an upright cat. It was odd to say the least. Two large horns branched out from both sides of her head and her skin was now black with with the same shade of purple as her sword etched into zebra like stripes. Her face reminded me of a panther with enormous canines like that of a sabertooth.

"When you say kin, do you mean as a fellow demon?" I thought back to her previous words. As strong as she was, I couldn't imagine actually being related. Her power level seemed less than my own at the given moment.

She smirked and the flashed a toothy smile, "Our father claims that you're stronger than me, but I just had to see for myself. Even if you are a child of the demon king like myself, there's no way a halfbreed can defeat a pureblood,"

"Daddy issues much? You came to bring me to Mundus so that you can prove yourself? How pathetic. Why bother? You're nothing but a pawn. A tool that he uses to do his bidding because he can't do it himself. And you call me the weakling." I scoffed, this time releasing a fire binding to hold her in place. The multiple wreathes of flames around her body left her defenseless and this time I tried something even better. I raised my middle and index finger to the sky and the once white clouds instantly morphed and grew to black coverage over the city.

"What are you doing?" She panicked, looking up for some clue.

"You'll see,"

"Stop! What-what are you doing? I demand in the name of the Demon King that you stop!"

"Blood may run thicker than water, but who was to say that the water wasn't accompanied by lightning?" She yelled and screamed in protest but the moment the white electricity fell from the heavens and met my fingers, I directed straight into her chest. I watched her wriggle and scream before finally falling silent within my flame's embrace. I witnessed her aura completely vanish before I released her body, hearing the _clunk_ sound as she hit the ground.

"And for the record," I said, "I have no father," And with that, I walked away, not even turning back to see her burst into ashes and fly away with my storms.


	16. The Princess and her Bastard

**I apologize for the long wait. I'll say once again, I do not own DMC, and I hope you enjoy! **

"Vergil, easy!" I laughed around kisses. He was so aggressive, but I couldn't find any reason for complaint. His hand slid up the back of my white tank. I almost didn't realize when he unclipped my bra, "Hey! Why don't you give me a chance to have fun?" I finally pushed him back and hovered over, peeling the black tee from his chisled body. He steadied me as I straddled him and undid the leather belt that was getting in my way and he repeated the action on me. I really wondered when I would get used to this. No matter how much time passed, he could still make me feel like a nervous teenage virgin who was sensitive to the lightest touch. I had no complaints there either.

"I waited five months. We have to make up for lost time," He pulled me down to smother me with another hot kiss. I felt chills creep down my spine and I shivered. I jumped when I felt where he was heading with his oh-so-magical fingers. I moaned almost loudly and he seemed satisfied, "You'll let the others hear you," He went deeper and I yelped. He always teased me, driving me to the point where I was about to fall over the edge and then stopping before finally giving me what I really wanted. It was almost cruel the way he did it but it left me craving for more and he knew it. He put the sadist in sadistic.

"None of that!" I discarded his pants and finally got what I wanted.

I saw the faintest smile creep over his perfect lips and lost my last shred of self restraint; practically attacking him and claiming those lips for myself before working my way down. Being Vergil, domination was his forte and before I knew it he had flipped me over so fast my head whirled, "Not yet," He whispered roughly right at my ear. My weak spot. I cringed I gasped his name when his mouth went to work on my lower half. Oh man!

_You're more fit as the Demon King's child!_ I wanted to say but that was drowned out by my moans.

...

"Where'd you go today?" He was still breathing heavily. I didn't blame him. I was pretty sure that was the longest and most intense we'd ever been. I was exhausted.

"Dante's. I never thought he'd be good with kids but he proved me wrong. What's with you two? You're the same," I sighed.

"I beg to differ,"

"No, you're quite good,"

He choked back a laugh, "Says the naked woman. I may hold him and feed him, but if you think you're going to get me to change a single diaper then I suggest you think again,"

"And if you think you're going to touch this body again you better think about what will make its owner happy. For example, changing a diaper or two when needed," I retorted.

"You're blackmailing because of dirty diapers?"

"It's all part of parenthood," I stated simply.

"But withholding sex-"

"Is a woman's divine right," It was a simple fact called _The power of the pussy_. All control was in a woman's hands if this basic law of nature was followed.

He scoffed, "You're definately a devil,"

"Ditto," I mumbled and tried to escape when he wrapped me into his arms, nuzzling his face into my back. What a child.

I loved that childish side, though. I held his arms around me and breathed deeply through my nose his smell, "I love you," It was lighter than a whisper. I didn't expect him to hear it.

"So I've heard," He held me tighter, like a python or boa constricter trying to squeeze its prey-the only way he knew to answer. It was only moments before I was sound asleep in his arms.

When we woke, it wasn't to the sound of the alarm I always set for early morning training. It wasn't to the sound of rain or storms. It wasn't the sound of anything that would have been usual to us. Instead, the sound came from a crib, more precisly, the white haired babe that slept there. The awful, and quickly irritating sound of his cries was what we woke to. Instead of normally clinging me to him like he usually did in the morning, he gladly let me go if it meant silencing the infant. Nero was a fairly quiet baby, but he definately threw his tantrums. A matter of weeks and I already knew. He was my baby.

My son.

My... blood.

"Vergil?" I tested. He moaned in his half slumber, "When I was at Dante's, something... happened," When I looked at him again, his eyes were glaring, wide awake and dangerously fixed on me. I realized what he was thinking and quickly clarified, "Not between Dante and I. I promise. While I was there, the place was attacked. By two demons I suspect. Dante shoved Nero and I out the back where the second demon attacked us while Dante fought inside," Even knowing the truth, his eyes didn't soften. He waited for more, "It was a woman," I paused, "and she claimed herself my sister,"

He sighed, running his hand through his hair, sending the strands backward messily. I loved his hair down because I loved to run my fingers through it, but his habit of running his own hand through and leaving it so disheveled was almost as satisfying. It was one of my favorite habits of his, "And was she?" He asked, sitting himself upright, obviously still on the border of awake and sleep.

"It was hard to dismiss the resemblance. Not to mention her father complex seemed to blind her with jealousy towards me," Realizing that we looked alike also brought to light that I had taken after my father's side. That alone from the fact that I was being hunted was enough to anger and disgust me. Vergil seemed to notice it too.

"What did she want?"

"What do you think?" I said lowly.

Another sigh-deeper this time- came from him, "It would seem she left empty handed,"

"Unfortunately for her, she never got the chance to leave, unless you count this world of course," I smiled. He rolled his eyes.

"So Mundus is getting anxious. Not that I blame him. You're his blood, and your powers make you near invincible. You're probably the one he plans to name his heir. Even though you're a halfbreed or else he's threatened by you," I had never thought of that option. Mainly, it was because I didn't see why the King of Demons would relinquish the title if he was still the strongest, "If you learn to control your powers you could very well stand on his level, and now that Nero was born he sees a possibly even stronger power to come in time. One that might even stand against him. He wants you where he can keep an eye on you, I bet," Leave it to Vergil to have an answer.

"Are you really dead set on unsealing the tower?" For the first time since he'd set out on this quest of his, he showed a face of uncertainty. Even when his heart was conflicted about his feelings toward me after discovering the truth about me, he never let those confusing feelings show on his face or in his actions. Now he simply sat and stared in deep thought at nothing. I could see his strained eyes narrow.

"I don't know now," He finally said, his voice low and miserable.

"Arkham said that you're hesitating. That he thinks he knows where the seal is but you haven't gone to investigate. Can I ask you why?"

"I don't know why. I feel like my timing is all messed up now. I never anticipated becoming a father and..." He cut off, stricken by what he was going to say. He lifted a hand to his head as if to brace himself at the realization of some great phenomenon.

"And what?" I pressed.

His shocked expression didn't fade at first but when it did he quickly composed himself and cleared his throat, "It's nothing," It sounded more like he was trying to convince himself rather than me.

"Is it because of my father?" I tried again.

"I don't know. There's no one reason," He looked at me and realized I was breast feeding, "I really envy the kid," He added.

"You already had your fill," I chided, "He's a growing boy," I saw the arrogant grin that spread over his face and it registered what he was thinking, "I'm not in the mood for your perverted games,"

"You were earlier,"

"That was earlier. This is later," It felt like my boob was going to fall off, "And don't try to change the subject,"

"Well I don't know what kind of answer you're waiting for," Was I sensing a "tude" in there?

"Your answer! I want to know your answer to this!" I exclaimed, the room cooling down in an instant. I held Nero closer to my body when I saw my own breath. Quickly I disbanded the cold.

"My answer is that a lot have things have happened in the past year and now the timing is far from good! What with your training, and your mother dying, and finding out you're the daughter of the very man I plan to kill one day. To add to the that fine list, you got pregnant and gave birth to a child. Now you and that child are being hunted!" His anger was rising.

"Are you saying I'm the one messing up your plans, because I'll tell you right now that a woman can't get pregnant by herself!" I yelled.

"Don't try and put words in my mouth, Sarla," He groaned, "I'm having trouble deciding what is a higher priority. I don't know if I should wait until things are more stable here or hurry and snatch my father's power before someone else does,"

"It's been there for over two thousand years. What makes you think it won't be there today or tomorrow?" I argued. In any normal relationship the answer would have been a given. Stay here and wait if not abandon the objective all together, but of course, our relationship wasn't normal. I was in love with a hopeless, emotionally constipated, selfish, arrogant, horrible man. Made sense. Whenever I had watched movies with my long lost friend Tami, she had always pointed out how I liked the bad guy in all of them. Now I fell for the bad guy in real life.

A cruel man. What was really cruel was that it wasn't usually intentional. He couldn't differentiate right from wrong. Like a child. That was why it was cruel. Children are cruel. I'd known this. They act on their desires, not knowing if it is bad or good. They don't try to be horrible, and they don't try to sweet. There is nothing good or evil about them. Just their naivete and innocence, though Vergil's innocence was a more specialized kind. It only surfaced at certain times.

"And for two thousand years, humans and demons alike have been trying to find and claim it. The tower is the only way to find it. That is something that those who have searched have overlooked. Arkham knew because he is in possession of the book containing my father's spell. The only book. How he came by it, I've no clue. He has studied the black arts for years, even sacrificed half his humanity. What a fool he is. I suspect he wishes to gain some power by helping me or possibly even betray me," I almost felt an urge to laugh at his nonchalance concerning Arkham's intentions; as if Arkham wasn't even a bug on his windshield. I was wary of Arkham enough for the both of us. The man was shady -in more ways than a night club bathroom drug deal- and I didn't trust him in the least. Especially around Nero I didn't trust him. I could feel the resentment he tried to contain at all costs around me when he saw Nero, or even when subject of him was brought up. He despised Nero. More than that, I think he despised what the birth of Nero had changed within Vergil.

"What I'd like to know is what exactly you think obtaining Force Edge is going to accomplish," I paused a moment before adding, "You know, besides getting stronger and holding your father's power and yada yada yada... It just amazes me how selfish you are. To the point of sacrificing this city, the world maybe. If you're trying to be like Sparda, destroying humanity is definately not the first step. That would be the first step in obtaining _my_ father's power." That was no shit.

"I already told you that I'm-"

"Uncertain? Come on. Even if you are, you're Vergil. You've always done what was in your interests and not someone else's and you always will. Isn't that why you made me your personal fuck buddy? This isn't a matter of love where I'm concerned. I've known that all along. You don't love me, you lust for me. Because I have this sculpted ass and amazing tits. I'm your little outlet you use to satisfy your manly desires. Plain and simple. So what is so hard in deciding what you want more when it comes to the tower? The sword, or humanity? Your desires, or the wellbeing of this world? It's an easy decision isn't it? So why are you hesitating?" Another episode of _WORD VOMIT _was on the air. Naturally I was the main character. It was times like these, when his -unknown to him- naivete really pushed me to the brink of insanity. My moments of exploding and letting whatever little thought in my head escape through my mouth, usually occurred during these times. It was during these fights that I blew my top and said things that I didn't mean, but I knew were true.

He loved me. I knew he did. He didn't. Knowing that he loved me was completely different from knowing he was aware he loved me. I couldn't help thinking that if he knew he loved me, I'd feel more secure. Alas, this argument had nothing to do with love. I knew that. That was just wishful thinking.

"You know that's not true! I can't even begin to tell you how stupid you sound saying that! You're not just a "fuck buddy" -how vulgar- you're more than that, you're-"

"High class ass?" I suggested, pursing my lips, trying to hold my tongue.

"Beautiful, damnit! How could you ever be just a piece of ass when you're so-so-so, gah!" He tore the covers free and stood, throwing on his boxers and then reaching for the jeans I'd stripped him of only hours ago. Blank was my mind until his words registered.

"Beautiful?" I murmured.

He turned then and looked at me with a twisted form of pain and embarressment, "What did you think I thought of you? Really? Your beauty is only a fraction of my attraction to you. You're intelligent and cunning to the point you almost terrify me. You can see through almost everything I do, which also scares me. In a battle of wits you challenge me. Life is never boring with you and I'm never alone. So pray tell me how you came to think that you were only a "fuck buddy"? If that were all I saw you as I would have taken you to bed the day I found you," I never tore my gaze from him and he seemed unwilling, or possibly unable to as well, "You're far more beautiful than anything I could ever imagine in both appearance and your very being,"

"But you don't love me,"

"How the hell am I supposed to know? I've never loved anyone, Sarla. My mother and Dante when I was a child. Even that form of love is such a distant concept to me. You love me, that's wonderful, since you know how to, but I can't even tell mad from sad or happy from tolerant. You love me and I wish you didn't, for your sake at least," His breathing had risen I was beginning to lose my own breath just listening to him.

A knock interrupted us, much to my displeasure. What timing they had. I'd never seen Vergil so riled up, especially over something like the subject of love. He never started those arguments. Alice's voice broke the silence that followed her knock, "Are you two decent?" Amazing how comfortable she had become with us.

"Give us a second," He jumped on the opportunity. Naturally the subject had jostled him in the uncharted waters of his heart and any chance provided for him to escape would be more than welcome. He threw a black, long sleeve tee over his head and cinched his belt, the buckle sticking out. He pushed the sleeves up to his elbows, exposing the pale flesh of his forearms, "Come in," He called.

Alice entered quietly, as if unsure. She immediately met my eyes and we exchanged looks. We might as well have spoken aloud for how well we understood each other in just the faces we made. What was even better yet, was that it all happened right under Vergil's nose.

"What's up, Alice?" Awkward silences were such a nuisence and therefor needed to be broken. I took that upon myself, "Arkham send you?" I'd guessed right I knew. Alice never came to our room unless I asked her to or if Arkham sent her.

She nodded, "He sent me for both of you. I think... you want to know, Sarla," That didn't make me nervous at all. When Alice spoke in such a low, timid voice you had to know something was wrong. Alice was loud. Something was up.

"Can you keep an eye on Nero? I don't like Arkham around him," The kid was quiet and already half asleep again. Nero didn't cry a lot, but when he did it was terrible and ended quickly... so long as you knew what was wrong and fixed it. Like any other child. Alice nodded her reply again. Alice wouldn't hurt Nero. She knew if she did that I would tear her apart; starting with the toes. It didn't hurt that she was practically in love with the kid, which was hard to imagine Alice, a demon, loving anything.

Vergil followed behind me - after insisting that I dress more appropriately - silently. He made no move to continue the conversation from earlier and as we drew up in front of the main library I could feel the irritation within his aura rise. Apparently Arkham wasn't on his list of things to do for the day. Arkham was waiting at the table centering the room. His marred skin and contrasting eyes looked as cold and shady as ever. He wasn't right. His stench was foul. No human would think so, but that was because they couldn't smell his essence like Vergil and I. Because Vergil and I were real halfbreeds, we smelled normal if not sweeter. Our human selves were imbued with demonic properties that just made our essence alluring by nature. Our blood smelled sweet, tasted sweet as a matter of fact. We were better than human. Arkham was twisted. He'd tried to make himself a demon using the dark arts. It wasn't a natural transformation. All the experiments he'd done on himself had left him a low level, incomplete devil.

"You asked for us?" Vergil started first, coming from behind me to walk toward the table.

Arkham nodded, "This concerns Sarla more than yourself but I thought you'd be interested,"

"What is it, Arkham? I'm not very patient this morning," I quipped.

"That woman you encountered the other day at Dante's is indeed your sister. I've looked through the books and located her. Adabella: One of Mundus' seeds and known for her envy. Her form is like that of a cat with horns and a knife ended tail. The weakest of Mundus' ilk not counting you,"

I smiled passively, "How kind,"

"My apologies," He hissed in that drawled out speech of his. I resisted the chills his voice imposed on me.

"Whatever. So she she's my sister. What of it?"

"You said there were two people? A man as well?" Alice asked in Arkham's place. I went to protest at her leaving Nero but she said, "Don't worry, I placed a barrier around him. We'll be alerted to any change," She glanced to Arkham then back to me, obviously catching my reluctance to speak with him.

"I never saw the man, but I heard him. He called me "princess"," I answered.

"Illegitimate, but technically true,"Arkham extended a bony, leather dry finger toward me, "I researched further and found this," He pointed to a page in one of the open books on the table, "Asmodious. The eldest son, and your half brother, known for being incredibally sexual in nature. A lustful demon who indulges in sexual sins. His personal favorite is apparently incest, if you look into the relationship of him and Adabella. They are half-siblings,"

"Just how many offspring are there?" I asked while trying to hold in my gag reflex which was stimulated on hearing of my brother.

"They are born and killed so often by their own father that the number is always changing," Alice stepped in again, a look of disgust folding her pink lips. Clearly even she found such a fact disgusting. Whether it was my incestuous siblings or my murderous father, I didn't know which it was that disgusted me more, let alone Alice.

"I wonder how their family reunions go?" I said my thoughts aloud without meaning to. I was sure they didn't have family reunions, probably family executions instead.

"I'd rather not. Can you enlighten us as to why this information is so important?" Vergil, his lips set firmly in a grim line, asked.

Arkham look up to meet Vergil's eyes from under a hooded gaze. "Last night, Alice was visited by a man in her dreams. He told her to give him "the princess and her bastard","

" Yes, because they are so much better and elite than my son. Referring to my son as "bastard" is starting to weigh heavy on my nerves. Perhaps they should think about themselves and the fact that their father impregnates random woman whether demon or human apparently, and if they don't live up to his standards, kills them." I snarled and felt my fangs peek from hiding and stab my lip, drawing sweet blood to the surface and into my mouth. Lately they had been revealing themselves with less effort as well as my claws.

"Sarla, I saw his face, and he told me his name. As much as you despise the idea of taking after your father, Asmodious does share an undeniable resemblance to you. He wants you. Nero is just the extra bonus he has to retrieve for Mundus. From what I gathered in the dream, he's dead set on you," Alice shivered, grasping her shoulders, "Even I felt fear," She paused, setting herself down and curling in on herself, "And confused,"

"Alice-"

"You have to watch out, Sarla! He's doesn't to just take you to Mundus! He wants your body, Sarla! He wants your soul!" Alice's trembling voice all but cracked with her strangled sobs. If there was ever a moment where I had felt sorry for Alice, looking at how terrified she was now blew it out of the park. She was as fragile as a child and when I turned my head to Vergil, I could see that even he found her pitiful, but the tense lines that strained his brows led me to believe that his worries lied elsewhere.

Before I could ask him what he thought we should do, my heart did a somersault in my chest when the mansion's auras shifted a paralyzing cry from our room.

"NERO!" I screamed, teleporting to the library doors in unison with Vergil, and in the direction of my wailing son.


	17. Three Annoyingly Truthful Words

**This chapter was supposed to be longer and go further in time but it just seemed right to stop where it was. So it's kind of short. Hope you like it at least a bit. I don't own DMC.**

"Sarla!" I didn't look back. Vergil's yells fell on dead ears. Nero's bone shivering, blood freezing, cries had cast a white out inside my body. It wasn't until I shadowed through the door, ignoring the mortal needed doorknob, that my body actually registered my surroundings.

He had wild, onyx hair long enough that it just barely curled around his ears and yellow eyes like my own. Unlike mine however, his made me want to cringe away like he was some savage beast that I couldn't afford to get near. He was tall; probably owning a couple inches or so more than Vergil. Gleaming in his right hand was a broadsword with demon language nearly covering every inch of it, from blade to hilt. Cradled in his left arm was my son, crying and whimpering as he stared up at the man with sad, infant eyes.

"Ah, I didn't expect the princess to get here so soon! Oh, and she even brought her mangy dog with her!" He said to no one despite the words being directed at us.

"Give back my son, or I WILL TEAR YOUR THROAT OUT AND WATCH YOU BLEED!" I roared. The windows shattered, letting the furious onslaught of the wind tear through the room and murderous thunder that bellowed from the previously calm, cloudless skies, shouted their deathly intent into the mansion's walls. Vergil stood behind to the side of me, I heard Yamato's whispers for release as Vergil pushed the blade up with his thumb. His other hand grasped the grip of Yamato.

"Now, now, let's not make idle threats. After all you're mine, Sarla," Asmodious smiled with teeth, his canines lengthened just as both my bottom and top ones had. The storm outside finally let loose pelting rain and hail the size of golf balls. Some managed to fly through the windows and to the floor, catching what little light left outside and shining clear like the window glass. The lit torches from the corridoors spat fire spasmodically and hissed like flustered cats. The sink facet in the bathroom split in half, sending jet streams of water in all directions. The lightbulbs burst and electricity cackled from the exposed outlets. I watched as the walls and room itself slowly began to be consumed in darkness. The shadows on the walls and the floor melted together into one and began to rise and make themselves corporal hands that reached hungrily for the overly enthused demon before me.

"Sarla!" Vergil's hand came to grab my shoulder, but his attempt to revive my senses had come too late. The burning fire in my shoulders stabbed from beneath the skin and slashed open it's escape. This time I didn't double over in agony though it was close to what I wanted to do. No, I stood, feeling the soft touch of feathers as they fled from my body. The two great wings spanned nearly from wall to wall, as the smaller set of second wings- half their length and mass- came to shield my body. My fingers bled and stung as my nails lengthened and sharpened. My head pounded relentlessly with a dull, aching, and just as equally agonizing pain. Something broke skin and I felt an extra weight towards the back of my head.

"So this is what Father meant when he said you weren't complete! Complete or not, I think it's safe to say I came unprepared-" His voice was cut off by a choking gurgle. One of the shadow hands had coiled its fingers around his throat and another wrung his right wrist, twisting it in such a carnal fashion that any other time I probably would have hurled at the sound of the bones and flesh tearing and breaking. His sword clattered heavily on the ground and his blood curdling outcry was like the offspring between a roar and a scream. The torches that had been hissing in the hallways sent their flames to my left hand. I raised it, pointing my index finger at his neck. The flames struck out from my finger, slithered around his throat, and tightened like a constricter around its prey. His angry screams were silenced once again, and the shadow hand that had loosened earlier, retightened again. Asmodious' strangled words, though intended as a threat, held no power to them anymore, "Take... your... bastarghd! ...Cleaherly... thisssss... form... isn't ... enoughhhh!"

The crazy, mad, yellow eyes never tore from mine; until the moment his body burst to gold light and then fell to dust. Nero, before hitting the ground, landed safely in the arms of his father. Asmodious was gone, but my body still felt the eagerness of fight. The shadows had crawled back, the storm had settled to a gentle breeze, softly pushing the curtains. The hallway's torches had settled back into their warm glow. The sink still whipped water about, but despite the reclaimed calm, my wings hadn't fallen away so quickly as they usually did. My nails had retracted, but that was all.

"The coward didn't even come in person. He sent a copycat," Vergil kicked the clone Asmodious' dusty leftovers as if it would satisfy him. He was holding Nero protectively to his chest, "shhh"ing him like a normal parent would. The odd part was that it suited him. Slowly Nero's screams reverted to light whimpers and coos.

"No wonder he didn't resist," I said.

Vergil looked at me, probably habit from hearing the disapointment in my voice. A grin threatened to seep through his always carefully kept facade, "You really do see something new everyday,"

I realized he was staring at my head. My wings folded as I ran to the full length mirror which had miraculously remained intact, and saw what he meant. Protruding out of the back sides of my head were two foot long gold horns tipped at the end with silver, "I have fucking horns!"

"Yes,"

"And they're coming out of my fucking head!"

"Yes,"

"Make them go away!" I whined.

He smiled, walking over to Nero's crib, which had been knocked over and turned it upright with one hand and laid Nero in it. He took me by the arm, pulling me and all four wings to him, "Go ahead and drink. It's fastest that way,"

"You just want me to bite you," I scoffed.

"So do you," He countered,

Without further thought I hurled myself at him, knocking us both to the bed. My teeth sunk into the warm inviting flesh of his neck. Delicious. The first mouthful that fell down my own throat was enough to set my transformation in action. The weight of the horns dissapeared almost immediately, and slowly I felt my wings vanish into nothing. Thoughtlessly my hands wondered aimlessly over his body and he made no move to resist, not that I would have expected him to. When the bloodlust proved unfullfilling I released his neck from my jaws, instead licking the bite wound, lapping up all traces of blood until there were only four pink puncture wounds. I was already straddling him, and pulled the black shirt over his head before pushing him back down into the bed. I felt his groin harden and began to rock my hips over it, sliding back and forth as I leaned over him savoring every inch of his corded body.

...

On the few number of times that I'd let her drink from me it had been purely out of the need to suppress the dark devil that dwelled within her. Only the last time had I really recieved any form of pleasure from it, and it was humiliating to say the least; like I was some kind of piece of meat that was at her disposal. I'd always been the one in control, so I'd thought. I'd always led when it came to intimacy. Whenever I embraced her the desire to pin her down and make her scream my name because I'd drove her crazy, would always take hold. I wanted her to think nothing but _me_, feel nothing but _me_, see nothing but _me_. She was _mine_ and no one else's. Not my brother's. And certainly not her's! That fiend Asmodious, her own brother, even wanted her.

Now, as she was taking of shirt and grinding the part of me that ached the most, I could do nothing. She was in control, and I had become completely powerless against her. At first I wanted to grab her by the shoulders and flip her over and under me and take back the power, but...

_"But you don't love me."_ My thoughts had roamed back the argument we'd had not even a half hour ago. Sarla was never insecure. She was always confident, as a child, and as the woman she'd grown into. The longer she stayed with me, the more I saw her vulnerable side. How much had been chipped away at her by me no less. The woman I'd thought to be indestructable in all aspects of the body, heart, and mind, I watched become unsure of the ground she stood. I didn't understand why it mattered in whatever way it did to me. I couldn't argue my fondness of her. In the dark, twisted world that had adopted me and torn away all that I had and was, she had waltzed in, wild, indominable as the sun itself, and given back some of what I had had and been. The empty, unconcerned abyss that had taken the place of my heart after Mother's death, didn't feel quite so hollow and light anymore. It wasn't full, but it wasn't empty either. She had done this to me. The world didn't matter to me, it hadn't for a while, but she did. Nero did. My son. She hadn't just restored some of what I'd lost as a child, she'd even given me what I'd never had and never expected to have in all my life. I was a father to my son. I was a lover to her. She'd called herself a _fuck buddy_.

Hearing her say it, I'd almost forgotten the feeling of guilt, but it had rose unbidden into my throat, and come out of my mouth as protests. When she'd asked me why I hadn't gone to investigate the seal I'd almost blurted without thinking what I hadn't realized until then. It had dawned on me so suddenly that I couldn't tell her for fear that something terrible would happen if I did. I'd almost told her the words that would have truly made her mine and myself hers.

_I love you._

Those three, annoyingly truthful words, ricocheted around in my head until with all the urgency and need in my body I pulled her face to mine and smothered her lips with my own; the sweet taste of blood still lingering on her lips. She responded in awkward confusion. Even without my having to tell her, she had surely already read me through my aura.

"I love you," She whispered between kisses, her lips quivered against my own and her body began to tremble. She held back tears, some persistant liquid spilled over the corners of her eyes. Helpless against my body's will, I kissed them away and just took her in my arms. She didn't fight anymore and cried. I could make her mine later. Obviously what she needed now was to cry. Before I would have scowled and told her shutup, how different things were now, "Please," She said through a breathy shiver, "All I ask of you ... is to not leave me,"

Idiot, "We'll see,"

"Your pride is really a pain in the ass," She scoffed with a smile.

"Probably," I grinned and kissed her forehead.


	18. Muramasa

**I apologize for the wait. I have been a bit preoccupied lately. I don't own DMC. I hope you enjoy :)**

"Vergil!" I yelled, hoping to but not quite expecting to, gain some form of response from the dead beat creature that lay in bed.

"No," He growled, not even so much as opening his eyes.

"You said we'd do it today!"

"That was before you drained me of blood and then cried yesterday. Then at night you woke up with some insatiable beast of a desire. You, monster,"

"Yeah, and they weren't exactly quickies either. Oh well, you said you wanted to make up for lost time while I was prego, and so I'm just delivering what you ordered," I swept my hands over my body when his eyes opened.

"We may be half demon and have more endurance, but it doesn't change the fact that we get tired. It's six in the fucking morning, Sarla. We have the whole day to do it," I almost wanted to laugh. Rarely did he cuss. Only when he was grumpy, like now, which made it all the more funny.

"But I need a sword now!" I mock whined.

"Come back later when I'm capable of at least raising my head," He groaned, "I don't know where your energy comes from sometimes. Usually I'm the one having to wake you up,"

"If you don't get out of bed, no more sex,"

"Good!" He said as enthusiastically as could be expected, muffled by the pillows his face was buried in. I hadn't thought that my appetite was that bad. He was tired he should have said so.

"No, no. Please, don't say something you'll regret," I said, quite honestly, while patting him on his bare back. That "beast of a desire" rose momentarily and prompted me to kiss up the arch of his back and over his shoulder blades. I stopped when I reached his ear and bit it playfully.

"Don't even think about it," He warned, leaving me to just lay over him and entangle my fingers with his. I almost thought I saw the faintest hint of smile pulling at the only visible corner of his lips.

"Fine fine, but would you please make some effort here?"

"Muramasa isn't going anywhere anytime soon. You'll get your sword. Just let me sleep a bit more, you pervert,"

"P-pervert? Who's the one jealous of a newborn because he has to breastfeed?"

"Whatever," He mumbled, obviously trying to hide his inner fluster.

"Come on, I need a sword,"

"I'd have one for you right now if it didn't need to be repolished after excessive use," So he said (Just who was the pervert?), but it wasn't my entire fault he was exhausted. I'd finished after the eleventh time. The twelfth time on was completely on him.

"And you call me a pervert. Honestly. Fine, but if I'm to kill Asmodious and protect myself, I need to invest in a weapon that answers to me and fits my hand well. _My own weapon,_"

"And you'll get it. Just let me sleep a bit more. Why don't you and Nero go shopping. Get some clothes. I'll get in the shower and we'll summon Muramasa when you return," Man, did he spoil me!

I bit his ear again, and to catch me off guard he suddenly spun around and pinned me beneath him before I could so much as sputter in my confusion. God, he was breathtaking. Just looking at him I didn't want to do anything the rest of the day and instead stay in bed with him. Not even have sex, I would have been just fine laying with him. Being held by him.

Or pinned down like I'd been overpowered by some sexy, carnal man with a tendency of possessive fits. Fuck, yes please. I loved being held down and feeling helpless… with him. And only him. And only in bed. So fucking arousing it made my head spin, especially when he teased me with those devilishly sculpted lips. His breath mingling with mine. Pressing against me and then away from me, mocking hesitation just to get me going.

Damn, he was cruel.

"You're right, I don't want to say something I'll regret. You look absolutely delicious when you're hot and bothered,"

"If you don't do me now, I'm going to rape you," I moaned, arching up to meet him, or at least try to, given my limited movement. To close the distance I coiled my legs around his lean hips and pulled him closer to grab his lips with my own. A kiss so hot I wanted to faint. He really was the best kisser. I'd go in full and in control and then he'd rip it out from under me and end up serving me.

"A little impatient, aren't we?" He breathed around kisses.

"Not impatient, hungry!"

"And so the beast appears," I hadn't even noticed his success in removing my just recently put on pants. Thank fuck, I hadn't put my boots on. I wouldn't be able to wait that long! Would this craving, animalistic lust ever be sated? The man drove me to the edge of madness in bed, and still it wasn't enough. My lust for him would never be satisfied, I feared. And on the off kilter moments that I wasn't in the mood to lick chocolate off him, I couldn't help but want his presence. His silence, and his humor, though cold it was. The sarcasm. The secret, childlike reactions, and the hidden concern that he felt was a weakness was even cute to me. He was adorable in the strangest ways. From the grumpy glares he gave to hide his embarrassments to the seemingly insurmountable wells of knowledge that dwelled in his mind. He didn't appear emotional but damnit he was eaten alive daily by them.

And he was quite possibly the most ardent and attentive lover I could have ever imagined to boot.

I cupped him in my hand and he shuddered momentarily before all but ripping my shirt from me and cupping in return, my right breast and leaning in to take my nipple in his mouth. Oh, Gods spare me, it felt wonderful. I whimpered when two fingers slid inside and found the rhythm that never failed. His mouth moved up my neck to bite my ear the way I always did to him. My ears. My weak spot. He then forced me to look in his direction with his hand cupping my jaw, and kissed me again, forceful and gentle all in the same. One way I'd always known he loved me was the way he kissed. No one kissed the way he kissed. No one kissed anyone they didn't love the way he kissed me. I didn't need to read his aura to know he loved me.

"I love you,"

At first, I thought it a hallucination, a trick of my overly reaching imagination, but then…

"I love you," He whispered against the hollow of my throat. I tried not to react, afraid that if I did, he'd stop. He'd shy away from me in denial, or get angry, but I knew better. I knew that my reaction would come either way. I froze, and sure enough he stopped, "What?" He asked breathy and approaching on wide-eyed surprise probably equivalent to my own. I saw my own reflection in his denim eyes. Was that how he saw me? Was the woman in the reflection the one he was saying it to? I had resigned myself to the fact that the possibility of hearing those words was slim to none, ever. Just knowing it for myself was how I'd convinced myself it was okay if he didn't say it, but hearing him say it for real… it did things.

"I love you!" I flung my arms around him throwing my body at him to topple him and sit over him, taking him in me; riding. So deep, so good. Who knew that just those words would put me on cloud 9 and make it all that much better? His hands came to rest on my hips grinding me deeper. He came to sit up, positioning me with him to wrap my legs around him, facing his beautiful… trembling lips, and claimed them never breaking the rapturing rhythm. My nipples rubbing deliciously against his hard chest, I clenched my fingers in his white, silky tendrils, three parts desire, and one part the need for something to hold, to brace myself against the passion, the rocking orgasm. His tongue and breath teasing my neck and nipples alternately. God, he knew my neck's sensitivity was dangerous. I could hardly stand it.

"I love you, Vergil," A gasp followed by a throaty groan, "Hopelessly,"

I thought I heard a "ditto" under ragged, climaxing breaths.

….

"Please remember, Muramasa is a noble class demon of the forge. Very stubborn, and very powerful, and he's every bit as skilled with a blade as I am. As annoying as the bastard can be, he's the only one I trust to touch Yamato, and the only one I feel can forge a weapon suitable for someone as you," Vergil, stone face well in place, motioned to Arkham to step out of the summoning pentagram. He took me by the hand and led me into the circle with him, flicking his wrist in a movement I barely followed he had unsheathed Yamato and was forcing my hand open, "If you want his services, you have to shed your own blood,"

"Gotcha," I clicked my tongue.

He watched me warily, "What the hell am I doing?" He rubbed the left side of his face with second thoughts.

"Spoiling me," I answered naturally. With that he scoffed with a smile.

"First with sex, then a child, now a sword," He exhaled, "Alright, keep your hand open," Then he slid Yamato's slick, silver blade over my palm. So sharp I didn't even feel it as it slit open a passage for the crimson, sweet scented blood to seep through. I clenched it into a fist, milking the blood to the surface and letting it drip into the center of the five pointed star mixed with demon language. The language I'd quickly managed to learn since following Vergil.

The white-chalked symbols instantly flared a brilliant red in matching tone to my blood. The center of the pentagram disappeared into a blinding white hole of light that grew by the second. Vergil pulled me with him back out of the summoning circle, his hand still clapped over mine protectively. Not as if I would need it. Through the light I could see a silhouette begin to rise from the ground with powerful presence. I could see the shape of quite sizeable horns –three of them- set atop the demon's head and curved similarly to a katana upward toward the back of his head. Through the light and pitch black of his shape I could see clearly the glare of two crimson eyes. His devilish form looked massive with muscles and bulk, and when the pillar of white-gold light closed from the ceiling to the floor, I realized he was more than just muscular.

Bat like wings furled against his ripped, toned back. His skin the color of deep red wine was decorated with charcoal gray markings. His ears were pointed to a long tip where his skin changed to a bright shade of aqua blue. Like he'd dipped the tips in paint. His face reminded me of a gargoyle. In fact, his whole body did, but then he stood on two legs and rose as upright as any human and his wings stretched nearly the span of the room. I was beginning to think we should have used the basement to summon his massive self. At least the basement spanned the whole length of the mansion. From a pool to the training grounds on the opposite side.

"Which of you mongrels summoned me? What sort of trick is this?" He grumbled, bellowed was probably more accurate. When he came to stand in front of us, I realized what he really reminded me of. The Belrog from Lord of the Rings. That massive beast that apparently "shall not pass", except his horns were different, and Muramasa wasn't nearly as large. He stood probably three feet above Vergil, which lead me to believe the demon was roughly eight to nine feet tall and strong. I glanced behind him to see a long thick tail sliding from side to side in what I thought was an irritated motion. The end of it armed with a black, trident-like barb. On his right side I saw a massive sword strapped to him.

"I am the one who summoned you, and this is no trick," I answered him with an equal amount of irritation tainting my words. Assuming that my summoning was trick was insult in itself. I wouldn't have it.

His crimson eyes left Vergil's and met with mine, "You? You're a halfbreed. I can tell by looking at you. You're not even fully awakened,"Though he said it so harshly, I felt something different from those eyes. Something... familiar.

"I can wake _you_ up if you'd like. I may be a halfbreed, but with that keen pureblood nose of yours, you should be able to sniff out which parent is the demon," I snapped, and Vergil's head whipped to look at me. I didn't have to look to see his angry expression. After he'd warned me of Muramasa, here I was picking a fight with him.

"I doubt you could so much as lay a scratch on me, so I suggest you carefully think your words over before spitting them out of that insolent mouth of yours," Muramasa snarled, and I thought I heard him mutter somthing, but I couldn't decipher his words. I all too clearly caught a glimpse of his saber, white teeth, and whole lot stench to hit me in the face like a brick wall. Talk about dragon breath.

"Fine, then I will state myself now," I fired back, "I am Sarla Katarina Indomniel, daughter to High Priestess, Maryse Georgina Indomniel. My father is the almighty Mundus, the Demon King,"

He was silent, his red eyes sizing me up, "You are Lady Maryse's daughter?"

"You knew my mother?"

"I've met her before, yes. She was a friend of the Lady Eva," He answered.

"You knew Eva?"

"I knew Sparda, and he spoke highly of your mother. I met her once before you were born. When Sparda was till courting Lady Eva. She was an impressionable woman,"

"She was," I murmured more to myself, but he overhead.

"Was?"

"She is dead, now. Killed by Mundus' demons," I spat.

"That is a shame. She had immense spiritual power. It is probably why your father seduced her," He really sounded sincere, which caught me off guard. He was a demon, feelings like grief and sincerity were practically unheard of.

"Seduced by evil," I muttered, recalling Arkham's words in the library over a year ago. My mother had very well been seduced by evil. It made me sick thinking that Arkham's words, which had been directed at Vergil then, were the best way to describe the reason for my birth. Mundus was the epitome of evil, and I could not find any reason as to how my mother had been fooled by him with all her power. Especially when he was still trapped in his Sparda customized seal.

"Well then, you summon me here to tell me your sob story, or do you wish for something else? I have a feeling it is the latter," He made a one-eighty, much to my relief. Mother wasn't something I wanted to think about, let alone talk about.

"You're right. I do have something I wish of you,"

"Then get to it,"

"I want you to forge me a sword. A sword that only could ever wield. One that fits my hand and I can use to the best of my ability. A perfect partnership between sword and master. That is what I wish for. I see how Vergil handles Yamato and synchronization that he shares with it. I want to become the best. And I want a sword that can help me achieve it,"

"And what makes you think I'll forge it for you? A master or swordsmanship can make any sword as good as another,"

"That may be true, but that is also naïve. I am skilled with blades of all sorts, but I need a blade that won't break. One that withstand my swing. One that can cut through anything. One that can slay the Demon King himself!"

"You should know that a sword's power is measured by it's master's strength. I can forge you the sword that you wish. Unbreakable and able to cut anything-"

"I want a companion. Not a tool, Muramasa,"

"Regardless, swords are tools. What purpose would this tool serve?"

"To protect my son. To protect myself. To slay those who wish to do myself and kin harm. Those who would lay a hand on Vergil, I'll slay them too. I'm not afraid to kill, Muramasa. I'm afraid not to," If he didn't believe me yet, I had a feeling he never would.

"Can you prove your proficiency with a sword?"

"Can you?" I challenged and caught in my peripherals Vergil putting a hand to his face as if to say "Fuck my life".

"You really want to fight me?" He warned.

"I can't say I don't," I smirked.

"Well then, I suppose I should take a more mobile form,"

"Mobile?"

"Does my body look like it can fight with a sword? This tail is only good for flying. You want my best skills, you'll get them," He said and before I could question him further his body began to shift inside of another ray of white light. Again his silhouette was all I could see as I watched muscles reform and wings fold in. His tail disappeared and his horns shrank back into his skull. Once he shed the light, I was faced with a beautiful man. Long, pitch black hair held in a ponytail made his crimson, almond eyes stand out just as boldly as before. He was dressed in a plain black yukata and was barefoot. The sword I had previously seen strung to his demon form had shrunk to match his human size. I needed a sword like that!

"Come," He ordered, and the power in his lilting voice was all the more compelling. I did as he asked, but not before Vergil grabbed me, placing something long in my hand. I looked down to see Yamato and its white hilt staring up at me. Such a beautiful sword. I offered him a smile and joined Muramasa back at the center of the floor where we'd summoned him. I bowed, but with no surprise, he did not return it. To prideful to bow to a lowly halfbreed.

I took my stance.

"Come at me any way you wish," He offered.

"I'd prefer you came at me," I countered. He was skilled, and by striking first, he would block me with ease, but instead he would strike my ego rather than my body. I wasn't so unconfident to be shaken by such a fact. At least, if he came at me, I could show _him_ that I wasn't as incompetent as he was going to try and make me believe.

"As you wish," He said with a smile.

All that was said then, was the song of our swords, as he came at me.


	19. Paternal Truth

**I do not own DMC. Hope you enjoy ;)**

"You're really fast. I applaud you," Red eyes full of mirth matched my own. They were the first words he'd spoken throughout our longstanding duel, and I was glad they were praise rather than taunts. However I didn't feel quite so quick when it was due in part to my shifting, nor when despite my ability, he had still managed to cut me a number of times, some superficial, and others I felt a little harder. I could practically vanish anywhere in the room given the amount of shadows. Whenever the red-eyed demon came too close for comfort, and I could almost see my life flash before my eyes, I misted away into the shadows, too full of the fear of him cutting me again.

I was cheating.

But he'd never said it was purely a battle of swordsmanship.

So I stopped, froze when he came at me again, rapid swing full in motion and heading straight toward my eye. Just when I felt the breath of his sword and anticipated the pain, it never came. I opened an eye and saw the tip of his silver katana millimeters from my pupil. _Son of a bitch!_

"Why have you stopped?" He asked lowly, his eyes sharply stabbing me.

"I was just wondering if this is no holds barred. I mean, my shifting ability isn't exactly fair,"

"I'll decide what's fair for me. There are many things you don't know about me, Sarla,"

"You're taking it easy on me!"

"Isn't that what you're doing?"

My jaw dropped. I wasn't taking it easy on him…. But I wasn't exactly fighting full throttle either, "Well, is this just a test of my swordsmanship?"

"Just fight me, Sarla. Survival is part of fighting," With that he jerked his hand and his sword moved away, then came across aiming at my lower extremities. I jumped, like playing hopscotch on the playground and brought Yamato down with me, aiming for his right shoulder. He dodged to the side, letting me hit the floor and have to roll away James Bond style to avoid his swing. I barely managed to stand again when he slashed upward, taking a piece of dead end of my hair. I watched the chunk wide-eyed as it fell to the floor and I was forced into a backflip to avoid falling. Damn he was fast! He had me on the defensive now whereas earlier he'd been.

He had a short reach, which always prompted him to get closer than normal, but I had a decent reach, so when he came into such close quarters, my arm couldn't bend to the position I needed to counter. He knew this too.

_I need to be faster! Stop him before he gets close!_

Mirroring my mind, I jumped back again, creating a space that I could start fresh with again. He charged-fuck he was fast- but I was faster, bringing Yamato up to force him to block. From there it became a matter of strength, and though I wasn't lacking, he was still stronger physically. Before he break the cross of swords I swirled Yamato in a circular motion, listening to its lovely chime as I broke his guard and twirled Yamato back into a stabbing stance and shot it forward. It grazed him, cutting his yukata along his side and slicing a bit of flesh superficially. How quick he was to deflect, but I wasn't done. Flipping Yamato again through my fingers I slashed back toward him again, this time bring it up to the target of his armpit. Then he did what I hadn't expected.

He grabbed Yamato's blade. A partially transformed limb caught the attack that would have severed his arm from his body. Without time to move it was all he'd been able to do. His hand, which now that I saw closer, was that wine color and hard as stone, but not hard enough to be unscathed as I realized blood was dripping over the blade. Muramasa was staring at it, then lifted his hooded gaze to me, deadly crimson and all.

"How sly," He praised with a hint of amusement. His aura gave me the impression he wasn't at all happy with himself for allowing such a blunder. He released Yamato then, the cut in his palm quickly closing as he examined it. He licked the remaining blood away and then eyed me critically.

"What?" I said, unnerved.

"I will forge your sword," He answered then.

"You will?" Vergil and I asked in unison.

"That's what I said, isn't it?" He retorted like he hated repeating himself. Something we shared in common.

"But… really? I mean, that was pretty much a stroke of luck there," I offered. I hadn't held back in the end, and he'd still overpowered me.

"I don't believe in luck, Sarla. I believe in opportunities. I'm not going to forge your sword because you got lucky. I couldn't dodge it, not because I didn't see it coming, but because you were too fast. You moved fast enough to render me unable to simply block or dodge,"

"It's only because you were going easy on me,"

"When someone tries to give you a compliment, it is bad manners not to accept it!" He thundered, his devil baritone leaking through. When I nodded in surprise he continued, "Even while going easy on a person, I would never just let them hit me. Only two other people have ever been able to catch me off guard the way you did. Both worthy swordsman. And both I gave my services to as a result. Consider yourself honored to have laid more than just one scratch on me, as the other two had only managed one, and barely,"

Curiosity consumed me. Two? In all of Muramasa's thousands of years, only two had laid a scratch on him?

"Can I ask who they were?" I ventured.

Muramasa smirked, "The Dark Knight was the first. He demanded I forge him a weapon, and wouldn't leave me until I did. He was the first one to ever scratch me,"

"And the other?"

Another smirk, "He's standing right over there," Muramasa pointed a slender finger at the man across the room dressed in a blue coat with yellow designs slithering up and down its collar. Vergil. He had wounded Muramasa? I suppose it wasn't that great a surprise. Vergil was invincible with a sword in his hand. His skill and strength with a sword surpassed anything I could ever imagine, but after seeing Muramasa's mastery, I'd thought anyone better than him was unheard of.

2 for Team Sparda-1 for Team Mundus, I wanted to say. It came as no surprise, Sparda was known as the greatest swordsman of the demon realm. Mundus was just known for being powerful, and in my opinion, a genuine, royal pain in my ass.

Vergil, though the topic of interest, just glowered in his usual intimidating persona. Stone face was such a sour puss. He could hear us, but of course he wouldn't let us know the extent of his ego fluff. Oh no, of course not. Nevertheless, I was still impressed by him… and turned on again. _Just you wait!_ My thighs tightened then. Damn, I was beginning to fear I was more like Asmodious than I would have previously ventured to think. Such insatiable desire. It really was maddening!

But this was no time to have dirty thoughts. I had successfully convinced Muramasa to make me a sword.

"When will I have it?" I asked.

"Summon me in three days' time," He answered quickly, without any hesitation. Could he really forge such a sword as he claimed in just three days?

He was a demon of the forge, with power far surpassing my own currently. I really had no room to doubt.

"Before I return, could you leave us a moment?" His eyes suddenly narrowed, focusing completely on Vergil, who also seemed to have darkened his gaze. I nodded, turning on my heel to exit the room. Before I closed the door behind me, I heard Vergil dismiss Arkham curtly. I glanced back, seeing the scarred man bow and make his way toward the door. I slipped out, followed by Arkham who walked silently behind me. That obvious hate brewing in his aura. I was grateful the bedroom was just down the hall. Alice was watching Nero, and with the appearance of Asmodious just the past night, I was all too anxious about leaving him out of my sight.

His menacing aura passed me as I turned into the bedroom, and he skulked down the hall.

"Ugh, that guy just gives me the creeps," I shivered, immediately searching for Alice and finding her in the recliner with Nero snuggled up against her, sound asleep. A bottle was barely held in Alice's hands as she had nodded off too. I took a step forward and realized for the first time the pain in my side and shoulder. I'd almost forgotten when Muramasa had cut me. It had been so quick and sharp it hadn't bothered until now. I supposed I'd have to wait these ones out to heal. I hadn't realized how deep until I stupidly pried the one on my side open to taken in its depth. Nevermind it. I walked over to where they sat quietly in the chair.

God, Nero was beautiful. My baby boy, what a terrible world he'd been born into. One that didn't seem to want him in it. I took one of the light blankets and covered the two.

"Sleep, my darling boy," I whispered, kissing the top of his white head.

….

"You realized it, I take it?" Muramasa stated more than asked the moment Arkham's foul stench was out of range.

"You're a smooth liar," I credited, realizing that Sarla had left Yamato cinched to my belt loop. I hadn't even noticed. I had been too focused on Muramasa to even register it.

"It comes with the numerous millennia,"

"And you want to know if I'll tell her," I smirked. Muramasa was a frank demon. His uncharacteristic reserve was amusing.

He glared, "Will you?"

"That depends. Why are you hiding it? Is it the shame you feel as a pureblood? Or the fact that you realized the moment you saw her who she really was? Does it come as a shock to you? Did you think it impossible?" I struck.

"Even a demon can have emotions. That's something you fail to realize. We have emotions, Son of Sparda, just the darker kind. We have motives, you know, and we can protect things of value-"

"Is she of value to you?"

"How about you?" I had to hand it to him, he was sharp. It didn't take any brains to see the connection between Sarla and I. Only someone as dense as I was wouldn't notice it. I hadn't noticed it until just last night, and I'd never said it until this morning. Damn!

She was beginning to take over me, and as good as it felt at times, it also felt like drowning. Like I was helpless. _Disgusting_. I loved her yet I hated her. Hated her for making me feel against my wishes, and she didn't even have to try to manipulate me. She just did. That was the most sickening part of it. Without any effort she could affect me. It irritated me. Pissed me off, even. She really was jeopardizing everything I'd survived this long for.

And then there was Nero. There was no way I could hate the child, yet he represented everything she did. So sickeningly sweet. Being with me would only destroy her. There was no reason for her to be with me. It was worthless. She'd be killed or hurt, and I'd be back at square one. Confused, without anything. Reliving that night again was possibly the only thing I feared. No matter how strong I was, I needed to be stronger. To be able to do whatever, whenever, and however, without any consequences.

I needed power. Power that could allow my every wish to be granted.

"I don't know," I said.

"I think you do," Muramasa replied, raising his gleaming katana with Sarla's blood staining it up to my throat, forcing my head.

"It doesn't matter," I snarled, "You know as well as I do now, that she isn't being hunted because she's his "daughter."

"So that's why she wants a sword that can kill him," He said as if a puzzle had just been pieced together.

I nodded-what I could with his sword tip pressed lightly under my chin- and said, "She has a son now. My son. Now that her "brother", Asmodious-"

"Asmodious is her brother. He isn't really Mundus' son. Neither is Abadella, who I heard was killed. I suspect it was her,"

"Whose are they then? Should I take a guess?"

"No need. Mundus will claim anyone's child as his own, so long as they can serve his purpose. His "children" are simply servants. Whether they're his blood or not," Muramasa spat.

"So the symbol on her neck; is that simply his "claim"?" I spat just as equally, "And what of her mother, the priestess, Maryse?"

"Maryse isn't her mother. How can a priestess still retain her position after being impregnated?" Muramasa laughed, obviously at my expense for being a fool. I had just assumed it was an exception. Maryse and Sarla smelled similar.

"So who is her mother?"

"Dead. Sarla was taken from the woman's body. Or so I heard. She was Maryse's younger sister, Elise. Maryse is Sarla's aunt," Muramasa's devil eyes were something else. So strong they held one to the spot. So this was the power of the demon my father had praised so much in his abandoned diaries. The few times I'd met him, I'd kept my distance. This was possibly the closest to him I'd really been, even in that duel so long ago. How ironic this was at the receiving end of his sword… again.

Defeating him was on my list of goals as well.

"How many other siblings does she have?"

"There's no need to fear the others. Asmodious though, he'll be her only worry… of her siblings at least,"

"I guess I know where her lusting nature comes from, now," I scoffed and he pressed the sword tip until I felt it break skin and a bead of blood slide down my throat.

"There's no room for judgment here, _Vergil_. I know of your plans. The whole demon world is fluttering with rumors. We can sense these kinds of things, you twit," The venom in his voice was not something to undermine. Not in my current position…. But then…

I was fast too.

Heading my command, Yamato met my hand, and drawing it from its sheathe I met Muramasa's blade with Yamato, brushing it aside and jerking my head back to avoid any further cut. With better distance between us I sheathed Yamato again, and looked at the devil swordsman.

"What I plan to do, is of no concern to you,"

"Everything about your plan concerns me. By opening that tunnel you're just leading him straight to her," He paused, looking me up and down as if searching for some weakness. Thankfully there were none in the room, now, "And your son,"

"As if I'd let it happen," I glowered.

"Not even you are invincible. Like for instance, I'm sure that brother of yours-"

"Is not of any consequence to me. Do not speak to me of my little brother. I cast aside those bonds long ago,"

"And created new ones?"

"Sarla is different. Sarla is innocent."

"He isn't?"

"He's as guilty as me. He was weak and still is. I cannot forgive it," I growled. He was stepping into lands he shouldn't. Leave it to his probing. Another thing I recognized in him that I should have recognized elsewhere. However it just made _him_ an annoying bastard.

"Just as you cannot forgive yourself," Muramasa shielded his katana.

"For a demon, you're awfully deep,"

"The darkest creatures are the deepest. We see what others wish not to. Even the coldest creature can be deep. Just because I'm a demon doesn't mean I'm shallow. I have a mind,"

"As do I. Quit trying to poke around in it,"

His eyes narrowed and his lips twisted in disappointment much to my irritation, "You've suddenly become boring. I think it's time I leave," His true, demonic form returned in the blink of an eye, enormous, foul scented and all. He backed away into the pentagram, "I could care less who you kill or can't forgive. Just don't tell her. Not yet. She needs to keep that determination. Nothing fuels a vengeance better than an ultimate betrayal For instance, a father killing your mother. I'm not saying the truth will lessen it, but, I'd prefer that she hear it straight from the horse's mouth,"

"Whatever you say, Grandpa," I grinned, and he snarled in return.

"You're still the same sorry bastard. You really disgust me with all your self-loathing. Loath others, not yourself, dumbass. Now send me back already. This human air is suffocating,"

"Shutup. I've had about as much as I can stomach of you for one lifetime," I lifted Yamato enough out of the sheathe to cut the inside of my hand. I stepped into the circle and dropped the sacrifice. Something occurred to me then. Something I could ask him that I hadn't been able to ask my father.

"Did you love her?" I asked, not sure why exactly. I had already … accepted my feelings toward Sarla … in the only form I could assume they were, but..

"She was different. Perhaps I did. It doesn't matter, though. In the end, I left, just like any other demon with a human mistress, right?" Even I could see something hidden behind his red eyes. They were so different from the yellow-gold ones I woke up to every day. Asmodious shared with her those same eyes and yet…

"Asmodious isn't a pureblood either, is he?" Hearing the story from Muramasa, it dawned on me then.

He grinned something truly annoying, "My, you're sharp,"

"He's not a half-brother at all!" I exclaimed.

"Try twin," His grin spread on that gargoyle mouth full of saber teeth.

_Sick_. I mentally offered.

"I know," Muramasa answered it, "She's free to do as she wishes with that one. She can kill him for all I care,"

"Why don't you?"

"Kill the Demon King's "Son"? I'm not in the kind of position where I can do as I please in regards to that asshole. Even sealed he's a pain in the ass,"

"With that, I can agree," I said and then repeated the spell that would send him back to the realm I couldn't reach.

Not yet.


	20. Villainous

**Hope you enjoy :)**

"So what did Muramasa want?" I asked Vergil after carefully waiting out the tense air about him. He'd returned several minutes after myself and slowly lowered himself as elegantly and soundly as always into the deep, violet, velvet chair across from my place on the matching couch. We'd shared silence. Occasionally he'd cast a sideways glance to the sleeping forms in the recliner, but for the most part he'd sat in thought, staring into the kindling, warm fireplace. I could clearly see the flames reflected; dancing softly in his glassy eyes.

He didn't answer at first then breathed, "Nothing in particular," He rested the right side of his face against his hand, pressing two fingers into his temple and ogling me before averting his gaze again to the fireplace. If it was nothing, then why not tell me?

"Oh," I said.

Something faintly resembling one of his trademarked smirks was threatening the corners of his lips. So I thought, anyway, for it blanked all at once when his eyes met mine again.

"What?" I asked laughably.

He shrugged.

"What does that mean?" I impersonated his shrug. What was so amusing?

He shrugged again, clearly on purpose. My chest was beginning to feel tight like a yawn. What was he hiding that was so funny?

"Fine," I lifted my arms in defeat and turned my head away, folding my arms across my chest in a classic, childish pout. When I glanced at him sideways the way he'd been stealing looks at Nero, I saw him smiling with his eyes and a slightly upturned corner of his mouth. His fist covering the rest of his lips.

"What?" I yelled, instantly retreating in on myself and looking hastily to Nero in fear of waking him. The kid slept more than any infant I'd ever seen. Whether a thunderstorm loomed directly overhead or in the deadest moments of the day, he could sleep soundly. It was something I'd envied as of late, as I could not sleep so comfortably with the threat of recent events looming at the back and forefront of my mind. From the devil Lord that Dante had exterminated for me several months back to Asmodious' most recent appearance, I'd been lacking of a purely sound mind. It was something I'd desperately attempted to disguise around Vergil. It wasn't so much my fear of worrying him, as not much ever really bothered him, but my fear of appearing weak before him. Someone who desired strength so much and respected such strength would have probably thought my fear trivial.

Playing the fearless demon girl wasn't always so easy. I had my fears. I had my limits. I also had my guises to cover them. That "unshakeable" confidence that I all too often boasted before him helped make me feel less powerless when beside him. Someone as dominating in presence as him often made me feel inferior and far too often, unworthy.

Looking at him I was always faced with that doubt. That it was all a dream. Could it really be possible that this man was mine as I was so completely his?

"I feel proud as your mentor. You managed to convince Muramasa so easily. When I fought him, though I _did _manage to walk away unscathed, it took me longer to land a hit. His guard is what could be said to be flawless," Vergil finally enlightened, talking around the fist.

"I really thought I was going to die at one point. I may have scratched him but I didn't get away without some wounds of my own. That's something only you can brag about," I peeled my blue tee up to show him the deep gash in my side. I wasn't as fast a healer as the twins, and the gash had made little improvement since the first and last time I'd checked it. The one between my shoulder and neck had little to show for progress as well. It burned something terrible and stiffened my left arm till the point of near immobility, "His guard really is impeccable. He's so quick to add to that," I praised the devil swordsman with sincere respect. Something I didn't too often offer to demons as they were either attempting on my life and child or murdering my parents.

"But you were too. We haven't trained in so long I was beginning to wonder if your skills were dulling," He admitted. Somehow I felt my success with Muramasa wasn't the full dose of amusement that was tickling him.

"To be honest I was too. I was beginning to regret daring him to attack first, but I wanted to size him up first, not the other way around. I'm glad to see I haven't lost anything these past few months,"

"That doesn't mean you can slack off," Vergil warned.

"I know," I answered with a sigh. In honest fact, practicing the art of the sword had been my solace since Vergil took me under his wing. In the beginning I'd been his new hope for a tool he could use at his disposal once trained right. Now though, it was hard to say where that line could be drawn. He'd never really made much use of me other than… well… _that_. There were times I wondered just what he _did_ find so attractive about me. I cussed like a sailor, disagreed with his goals and dreams, and wasn't of much use except for as a sparring buddy on a good day. There was of course that façade of confidence that I forced to burst at the seams. I was arrogant, a loud mouth, and had even _kissed_ his twin brother. The one he had no qualms with killing, much to my heartache. His lack of the smallest shred of a family bond truly tore at my heart. Eva had been his world. A true mama's boy, they both had been, but Vergil had been especially close with her. So much so that losing her had set him on this dark path for power. He'd allowed and accepted his demon half as a result of it, and strove for a power that could defeat the Demon King himself, my supposed "father".

What I'd kill to erase that fact. My "father" was no more than a sperm donor that I could have done better without. I'd much rather have had a human, ordinary dad. At least then I wouldn't have the trifling obstacles I faced now. The controlling of these ridiculous powers that took immense concentration to grasp the slightest hold over. How Vergil had mastered all aspects of his demonic parentage and the abilities it entailed, was amazing, and quite frankly, beyond me. At least with normal parents I could have finished high school and fallen in love with a not so cruel man as the one I did love.

Still, the thought of a world without Vergil and Nero seemed too impossible to imagine. Trying to picture such a world where I was married to another and "happy" with a human life, seemed the more impossible feat than my current picture of Vergil sitting before me, smiling with all his devilish, dark gleams. That in itself was hard enough to picture, as the sight of him was nearly blinding with all his regal, otherworldly airs and charms. Once again the need to reassure myself he was real and here overwhelmed me and wasn't appeased until he spoke again.

"You look deep in thought," He stated. If only he knew.

"I could say the same about you,"

"Do I look so deep here?" He grinned again.

"Not just here. All the time. It makes me want to know what's going on inside that villainous mind of yours," I watched, trying not to let loose the wide smile I felt as his brow lifted curiously.

"Villainous?" His asked quizzically with a broadened grin.

"Villainous." I confirmed.

"What's so villainous about achieving one's goals and dreams? Don't humans always say to follow your dreams?"

"The dreams that don't include the mass genocide of the human race by the hands of demons," I replied flatly.

To that he laughed, lightly, as if it were only to a mental joke, "Regardless, it's going to happen,"

"You've made that very clear. On a number of occasions might I add," I retorted sharply.

"My intention is not the annihilation of the human race," He attempted to justify, but the reasoning fell on deaf ears.

"It may not be your intention, but as a result of the choice, it will happen," In most arguments, his logic outwilled my reason, but in this particular banter, I felt the reassuring pat on the back of logic.

"This is true," He said, as if he were still waiting for a reason. His nonchalance was almost chilling.

"And you're still this deadset, huh?" The question was more less just a reason to talk, as I couldn't allow such cold words as his to be the end of the conversation.

He frowned, condescendingly and poked a fragile nerve somewhere inside that I barely managed to keep contained. The fired urged to smack that expression from his face ticked away inside me, and he noticed it too.

"If you glare like that you'll get crow's feet," He taunted and I gritted my teeth against whatever tantalizing retort I could spin off. A few of which went somewhere along the lines of his hair and age. Neither of which were really personally thought of as material for insult, as I loved his white hair about as much as I loved his frosty blue eyes and cold humor. However his "humor" wasn't all that impressive given the subject. People's lives were at stake over this endeavor he pursued. Not just mindless, lesser demons conjured from dust. These were real, living, functioning lives that he was threatening by unleashing Temen–Ni-Gru. His cold humor was icy as compared to all the other times. Not the slightest regard to those he'd be destroying. They were humans just like his mother.

I didn't care to be around such attitude at the moment, "I'm going to the pool," I said, rising to leave.

"Don't forget a suit this time," Was all he said. He didn't have to remind me. I remembered full well our first time wrapped together. The first time he'd made love to me. The images rose unbidden almost every day. Instead of a lack of swimwear though, I was more concerned about the shoulder that still throbbed. I could force it to move if I could handle some pain.

As Vergil had once said, I had been beaten with crowbars before. I wanted to think a little more pain wouldn't kill me.

He really was cheeky. It was hard not to smile. I grabbed the aqua blue bikini at the bottom of my lingerie drawer and stepped into the bathroom to change and grab a towel. I left, walking briskly past him so as not to show him the persistent grin tugging my lips.

…

I'd almost forgotten the needle point feeling of plunging yourself into a body of chilled water. That feeling of laying out in the sun for so long then jumping into the pool to cool yourself was ten times worse than the feeling I received while jumping into the mansion's underground pool, but nevertheless, the feeling was there. I cut through the water, clumsy and uncoordinated at first before finally finding my stride. Swimming had always been my favorite form of exercise since I hated to exercise anyway. Swimming was fun, and refreshing. Every time I went under I felt like a new world was opened and I was the only one in it. The only conversation there was the loud gurgling of the water around me that pounded in my ears, or the sound of my own heartbeat. Sound did travel faster and better in water, but you never knew just how much until you were under it yourself.

The chlorine was a stinging wake up call for my eyes and wounds and I chastised myself for ignoring the goggles strung on the towel rack by the entrance or waiting at least until my cuts were more superficial. However with Nero asleep and Vergil ….being Vergil, I could finally find a peaceful moment away from all the reminders of what was really out there lurking and searching for me and my child's demise.

Instead my thoughts drifted to the curt Muramasa, whose crimson eyes held something I couldn't label. Something prideful that I had felt wasn't directed solely toward himself but toward another. However there hadn't been anyone present at the time for him to be proud of, other than himself. It wasn't as if he was my mentor, or Vergil's. So that pride that wasn't just his only sent me in spirals of confusion in regards to the real object of his affectionate pride. While fighting I hadn't been able to deny the strange, fluttering familiarity that came every time our swords crossed. Like some age old story that I'd forgotten wanted to be retold. I'd never met the proud demon, but every moment our eyes locked and our swords touched, I hadn't been able to help but faintly feel we had.

It was vexing to say the least. The feeling of wanting to know but unable to. If there was anything I'd ever had any form of real trust in, it had always been my gut. And my gut told me there was more to Muramasa than I had previously led myself to believe. I wouldn't have felt so drawn and familiar with him if there weren't a reason. Perhaps I'd simply seen that same stubborn and prideful light in his eyes as I had seen in my own all my life. Or perhaps it was the curve of his lips that seemed so familiar. Like Asmodious' when the creep wasn't grinning so freakishly. The same as Abadella's who I had pulverized just the day before. Perchance it was simply coincidence, or an overthought of my roaming imagination.

There was no way such vile creatures as them could have been spawned from someone as honorable and set in the old ways as Muramasa. Something told me any child of Muramasa's would not behave in such fashion as them.

I came up for air, alarmed by a sudden shift to the mansion's atmosphere that all too well resembled the shift that had occurred just the past night. I whipped my head around, searching the shadows for the uninvited one. I tried to focus on Nero's aura, and was given some semblance of relief to know he was safe as before. Vergil's had vanished entirely. Probably left, I assumed. There were other things he could tend to in town, I was sure. Perhaps to finally release the seventh and final seal he'd been avoiding.

However the invading presence was the more important matter now and I began to cautiously doggie paddle back to the shallow end as the small arm movements proved more tolerable for my arm. If only I'd brought a weapon with me. What little control I had over my powers only seemed to serve me well when I lost control of myself, which didn't serve me well at all. Handling Abadella had come as something of a miracle. I couldn't recall using my powers that well before. The only power I did have an impressive hand on the reigns with was my shadowing and short distance teleportation. The rest seemed to have a mind of their own, which had always bothered me. In the sense I didn't feel the powers were mine most times.

Someone like me, who'd been raised human and oblivious to my devil parentage couldn't possibly ever achieve the greatness that Vergil and Dante had. How pathetic. With all my "power" I was still nothing more than useless.

"I don't know where you are, but you might as well come out," I cast the warning to whatever or whoever it was that was skulking just out of my range of senses. Whoever it was seemed to heed it.

To my right I heard the scuff of a boot and I my head jumped quickly in its direction. My eyes finally made out the light of two yellow eyes drawing closer from the changing room's shadows until a body was visible along with them.

Asmodious.

"What do you want?" I sneered.

"Let's not ask questions we don't want the answers to, my dearest sister," His voice, less course and wild than the night before, answered velvety. Seductively. It was no wonder he was the patron of lust. Even I was transfixed momentarily in surprise by his smooth voice before just as quickly drawing back in repulsion for even acknowledging the fact.

Our resemblance was hard to deny. The same eyes, almost the same shade of hair (his was darker. A silky shade of pitch black), the same leanness to our forms despite his broad shoulders which I happily did not share, and the lips that I'd just credited similarity to Muramasa's, I realized were also my own. How I hadn't noticed before was amazing. He was my male counterpart. The fact was made all the more clear when I felt a humming lull deep in my blood that called to him as my brother.

He was definitely my brother. There were no doubts with just the sheer sight of him. Anyone could see it. From our eyes to the way we stood, hands tucked into the front pockets of our jeans or placed solidly on our hips. In his case he was doing both; something else I did.

Yet we couldn't have been from farther ends of the moral spectrum. Someone so indiscriminate with partners –not even against his own blood sister- couldn't be said to sit high on the moral totem pole. Willing to kill a baby, to rape his sister. I could only see him as crazed.

"Then what should I ask?" I quipped, not wanting to step out of the sheltering water. It made me feel less exposed, and hidden from his lusting, yellow eyes that made my stomach flip over at the thought.

"Depends on what answers you want," He said playfully drawing nearing to the edge of the pool.

"What are you doing here?" I repeated myself, which elicited a disappointed frown that was only half as serious as I wish it had been, "Are you here for my son, _brother?_" I emphasized the last word grimly.

"I like the way you say that. That open hostility is quite alluring. Why don't you call my name that way?"

"You'd like it too much," I hissed.

"Right you are," He admitted, squatting at the edge of the pool to peer down at me hungrily. Any other woman who found herself being looked at in such way may have swooned, but I wanted to claw those eyes out so he couldn't sear me with such a gaze. A gaze that made me sick to my stomach because of the reality of it. Because he was my brother, who was looking at me in a way a brother shouldn't. Not only that, the very threat he posed to my son made me want to tear his throat out just seeing him.

"You're messed up," I managed, just barely, to contain the snarl that threatened to curl my lips.

"You could be too, if you'd just let me," He offered innocently, as if he were only trying to sell girl scout cookies.

"In your dreams,"

"Always," He purred and I vomited in my mouth I was pretty sure.

"If you value your life, you will leave me alone. Whether by my hand or Vergil's, I won't let you live if you so much as threaten my son or me again," The threat wasn't empty, but my body was. If he tried something now in my current state, I wouldn't be able to ward him off, and judging by the way his eyes took in the wound on my shoulder, he was aware of it too.

He smirked, "The only hand capable seems to be out at the moment,"

"He'll be back shortly," I bluffed. I had no idea where he'd gone, let alone when he'd be back. I was beginning to feel the tight hand of fear squeeze itself around my heart, "And when he is, he'll kill you,"

"I'd like to see that," He laughed.

"I would too," I added, plastering another frown to his face, this one more sincere.

"So cold," He shivered.

"So fed up," I retorted, "I'm tired of this game our _father_ is so joyously playing with me,"

"Mundus has his good points," Asmodious said both seriously and sarcastically is such a combination was possible.

"Humor me,"

"For one, he marked both you and me as his own children despite not having any real relation to him. Through that mark you got the power over the elements. Without that mark you wouldn't have been able to burn my clone or barbecue Abadella. Don't you think he's been fairly generous?" He answered with all the sincerity the world could offer. I was so mesmerized by his conviction that the words didn't sink in for a good, long moment.

Mundus… wasn't my father? My power over the elements wasn't my own? Was he for real? All this time I'd fretted and worried over nothing? Despising the fact that I looked like my evil father had all been in vain. Vergil had worried too. Was he saying that all the worry, hate, and self-loathing had been for nothing?

No, the hate hadn't been. My hate was still the same. He'd still murdered my mother, but then who was my real father?

"Who…" I started.

"You really want to know? I'm sure you know your good friend of the forge you summoned just a while ago," He gleamed.

"No…"

"Oh yes, sister. The very same. Muramasa is our father,"

Though the confusion was almost nauseating, the flutter of relief was almost as equally gratifying. Mundus wasn't my father… but Muramasa was?

How-

Before I could finish the thought Asmodious flicked his wrist and I was pulled from the water by some invisible force and slammed into his chest, waking a terrible soreness in the cut from my side. I went to jerk away but he grabbed my wrists painfully and I gasped, gritting my teeth as he forced me to my knees.

"Abadella really holds no flame to your dark beauty, my lovely Sarla. I've often dreamt of the day I would meet you. The nine months in the womb is a little hazy," He chuckled.

"What?"

"You don't know that either, huh?" He said amused, "Aunt Maryse really did hide it from you,"

_Aunt Maryse?_

"Poor thing. You've been raise completely in the dark haven't you?"

"I don't understand-"

"I suppose you wouldn't. It's no wonder you and I are so different. We've been raise from opposite sides of the tracks," He knelt down in front of me, taking both my wrists into just one hand and pulling me closer until he leaned in to my ear so close I could feel his warm breath, "Poor Sarla. You don't even know who your mother is,"

"Let go!" I shouted, wiggling and jerking as much as I could, but he was far stronger. He held me in place with such ease with only one hand and the other pressed lightly to the small of my back. I cringed at the touch, and felt hot tears pricking my eyes. I wanted to get away but I was held to the spot by his shear strength. I wanted to run to Vergil and throw myself in his arms and never leave them. I wanted him to replace Asmodious' soft but cruel touch with his own tender caresses. I wanted Vergil!

"I can't do that, Sarla. Not now that I've finally found you. My other half,"

"Stop saying those things! It's sick! I'm your sister!" I yelled, unable to hide the shuddering of my crying and trying to pull away even harder, putting all the strength I had into it. Still, he was unbreakable.

"Why not? It's true. You're my twin. My other half," He said it so simply. Like it was the most simple concept in the world. I wanted to scream. He wasn't just my brother. He was my twin as well? How he could think it made the situation any better?

"Exactly! I'm your twin! What part of that is okay?"

"Every part! You're mine! You have been since the beginning!" His voice finally rose, angry irritation finally revealing itself in both his tone and the strength of his hand clasped around my wrists. I gasped again, hitching a breath.

"I'm Vergil's…"

"And where is he now?" He spat vehemently.

I wanted the tears to stop. I wanted to scream.

"Unhand her," Vergil said coarsely, disgust and venom pouring from his words. I didn't see him, but when I looked up, I saw the gleaming, silver point and edge of Yamato slipped intimately under Asmodious' chin and a glaring, furious Vergil killing Asmodious with his eyes.

Asmodious paused, never taking his eyes from mine, then released me, "I guess you were right. He is back rather soon," I sensed regret staining his voice. He stood up, turning to face Vergil, who never let up Yamato's deathly caress along Asmodious' throat, "I won't quarrel with _you_, today," He said.

"A wise decision," Vergil said icily.

"I said _today_, Son of Sparda. I'll be back," Asmodious' reply would have fit any horror film, but even that thought didn't lessen the chill his words scattered throughout my body. I shivered.

"Why not settle it now?" Vergil challenged.

"I'm afraid I'm ill-equipped. I came only to speak with her. I had no intention of fighting today," Asmodious answered.

"Well you saw how that worked out, didn't you? Touch her or my son again and I'll kill you where you stand,"

"Why not do it now?" This time Asmodious dared.

"I won't fight an unarmed opponent. I'd rather enjoy defeating you seriously," Vergil paused then grinned demonically, "_Then_ carve your heart out,"

Asmodious grinned in answer, "I couldn't agree more,"

"Good, then remove yourself before I change my mind,"

"As you wish, _Vergil_," Asmodious purred again, then quickly vanished into shadow the same way I could. If anything proved we were siblings it was that. We shared similar abilities, even if some of mine were borrowed.

Vergil sheathed Yamato after sensing my brother's presence was completely vanquished then gently grabbed me by the elbow and lifted me to my feet. He looked at me hard before drawing me to him. I couldn't have been more happy to see him. I wrapped my arms around his waist the way a child embraced their mother after getting lost in the grocery store. He did the same in turn, resting his lips atop my head. Holding my quivering, sobbing body, he said:

"I'm sorry,"

I didn't even bother hoping those words were his own like I always did. I didn't even bother trying to reassure myself it was real. There was nothing more real than the scent of his cologne, the wideness of his firm chest, the safety of his arms around me. I couldn't have been more sure he was there than right then. So hearing his apology, I didn't bother to say something smartass in return, or to question him how deep he felt.

"You're here," I whispered, "That's all I care about now,"

His arms tightened and he kissed the top of my head, "Still, I'm sorry," He murmured.


End file.
